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Category Archives: Slavery
Seizure of the Planter
During a recent trip to Charleston, I came across the following story, presented on a historical marker by the Historic Charleston Foundation and the African American Historical Alliance: The Seizure of the Planter
Posted in Civilian, Navies, Personalities, Slavery
Tagged Charleston, Planter, Robert Smalls
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My Life as a Black Civil War Living Historian—part three
Part three in a series One fall day in 2010 at the Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield, while giving a tour, I ran into John Cummings, a Spotsylvania Civil War historian I had known for a while. We served together on … Continue reading
Posted in Civil War Events, National Park Service, Slavery, USCT
Tagged Henderson-memoir, living history, Steward Henderson, USCT
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My Life as a Black Civil War Living Historian—part two
Part two in a series As a Park Service historian, I give tours on all four of the Park’s battlefields: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. I loved talking about the military history but never said much about the … Continue reading
Posted in Civil War Events, National Park Service, Slavery, USCT
Tagged Henderson-memoir, John Hennessy, NPS, Steward Henderson, USCT
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Beyond the 150th: Where academic and public historians are one and the same
by Rebekeh Oakes, part of an ongoing series One hundred and fifty years ago, the sleepy town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania became the sight of a bloody three-day battle immortalized in the American consciousness. This past March, Gettysburg College was flooded … Continue reading
Hotel De’Afrique: The first safe haven for African Americans in North Carolina
The capture of the Confederate forts located at Hatteras Inlet on August 29, 1861, provided the first Union victory of the Civil War. Almost immediately fugitive slaves began arriving on Hatteras Island in search of freedom. In a letter to … Continue reading
Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Monuments, Slavery
Tagged Fort Clark, Fort Hatteras, Freedmen's Colony, Hotel De'Afrique, OBX, Outer Banks
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Mississippi Finally “Bans” Slavery
So you may have heard that last week Mississippi finally banned slavery. Now this is not to say that the state has been stuck in an Antebellum/Civil War timewarp for the past century and a half. But apparently there were … Continue reading
Winter at White Oak Church
Between the ill-fated campaigns of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the Union Army of the Potomac spent the winter months of 1862-1863 encamped across the whole of Stafford County, Virginia. There are countless landmarks noted in the diaries, memories and letters of … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Battlefields & Historic Places, Emerging Civil War, Monuments, Slavery
Tagged Sixth Corps, White Oak Church
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Watch Night: The 150th Anniversary
December 31, 2012 was the 150th anniversary of “Watch Night.” On New Year’s Eve, like many African-Americans, I go to church to celebrate Watch Night. Depending on which church you attend, you may have a midnight Mass, have a special church … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Slavery
Tagged Abe Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation, Frederick Douglass, Watch Night
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The Civil War is Everywhere; Just for Laughs
For the holidays my parents, fiancé, and I traveled to the Caribbean for a Christmas Cruise. Being a history enthusiast, I sought out some history during our trip, which in San Juan, Puerto Rico means the two forts of Castillo … Continue reading
The Meaning of the Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation changed the course of the war, from protecting the Union to redefining freedom. But far from being the bringer of widespread freedom to all enslaved peoples, the Proclamation was very limited in its power. Emancipation Proclamation The … Continue reading
