African Americans
Published: 10/20/20
“The Good Lord Bird”: Episode 3
The third installment of historian Megan Kate Nelson's review of the Showtime miniseries "The Good Lord Bird."
12
Published: 10/16/20
John Brown’s Raid
Discover the story of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry and its role in the fight against slavery. Explore images that relay the historical significance of this pivotal moment.
Published: 10/13/20
“The Good Lord Bird”: Episode 2
The second installment of historian Megan Kate Nelson's review of the Showtime miniseries "The Good Lord Bird."
Published: 10/6/20
“The Good Lord Bird”: Episode 1
Historian Megan Kate Nelson's review of the first episode of the Showtime miniseries "The Good Lord Bird."
Published: 9/21/20
The Five Best Books on the African-American Civil War Experience
Begin an exploration of the African-American Civil War experience with these five must-read books.
9
Published: 6/1/20
Disputed Glory
The 54th Massachusetts Infantry performed heroically in the attack on Fort Wagner. Why did so many northern newspapers argue otherwise?
Published: 10/16/19
Africans in the Old South (2016)
Explore the lives of Africans in the Old South through biographies of West African natives in this book by Randy J. Sparks.
Published: 10/9/19
American Abolitionism (2019)
Dive into the direct political impact of American abolitionism on the end of slavery in Stanley Harrold's "American Abolitionism."
Published: 7/26/19
History as Imagination
Harriet Tubman helped free hundreds of slaves during the Combahee River Raid, an event documented in "The Tubman Command" by Elizabeth Cobbs.
8
Published: 7/1/19
The Refugees
During the Civil War, some 500,000 enslaved people fled to Union-occupied regions seeking freedom, establishing over 300 refugee settlements.
7
Published: 5/1/19
Mutiny in the Army
A mutiny by African-American soldiers in the 128th U.S. Colored Troops sheds light on the often troubled path to freedom experienced by former slaves.
5
Published: 5/1/18
The Perils of Peace
For the white and black residents of Staunton, Virginia, life in the first year after the end of the Civil War was transformative—and unsettled.
Published: 5/5/14
What Should Historians Make of “Black Confederates?”
Library of Congress The topic of so-called “Black Confederates” is controversial. Some insist that Confederate nationalism motivated thousands of African Americans to fight alongside their masters, proving that slavery did...
Published: 3/17/14
Reconsidering the “Myth” of the Black Union Soldier
It’s hard to believe that 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the Hollywood movie Glory. Twenty-five years later it is also difficult to remember that for many...
Published: 7/8/13
The Day Holt Collier Killed Hogzilla
Holt Collier (c. 1845-1936) was a Mississippi slave who went off to the Civil War as a servant to his master, Howell Hinds, and Hinds’ son Tom. Although he was...
Published: 6/3/13
Friends Across the Color Line
David Cornwell, formerly an infantryman in the 8th Illinois Infantry and a veteran of Shiloh, was serving with Battery D, 1st Illinois Artillery, in the summer of 1862. Stationed not...
Published: 5/20/13
Grant and the Forgotten Court of Inquiry
During the siege of Vicksburg, General U. S. Grant had to deal with racial problems, but those problems were always a lower priority than his main goal—the capture of Vicksburg....
Published: 3/15/13
An Interview with Ron Coddington
Our conversation with Ron Coddington, an assistant managing editor with the Chronicle of Higher Education and author of African American Faces of the Civil War: An Album, published by...