APRIL 2013: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War. Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

Click here to visit the Voices of the Civil War blog to see previous episodes.

Episode 15 focuses on the life and career of Alexander Thomas Augusta, the first of only eight black physicians commissioned into the Union Army. Major Augusta served in the 7th U.S. Colored Troops and later worked as the surgeon-in-chief at the Freedmen’s Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Credits

1. Ohio Historical Society
2, 17. National Archives and Records Administration
3, 7, 9, 12, 13, 16. Library of Congress
4. Army Military History Institute Collection
5, 10. Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, HUA
6. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division
8. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 11
11. Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore
14, 18. General Research & Reference Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations
15. Courtesy Anne Straith Jamieson Fonds, Western Archives, Western University
16. Courtesy of Toronto Public Library

The Wright Museum wrapped up an incredibly busy first three months of 2013, celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Black History Month, and Women’s History Month (see our event pictures inside… perhaps you’re in one!). In addition to the plethora of historically important individuals and events included in these months, it’s significant to note the confluence of several major anniversaries and events taking place this very year: the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, the second inauguration of the nation’s first African American president, Barack Obama, and the commemoration of Rosa Parks’ 100th birthday.

We were honored to host an enormously well received reception at the museum on February 4 for the new, commemorative stamp in honor of Rosa Parks’ 100th birthday. And thanks to Elaine Steele, I was able to attend the historical unveiling of the Rosa Parks statue in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. The unveiling revealed a 9-foot-tall, 2,700-pound bronze statue with a granite base showing Mrs. Parks sitting, her legs crossed, her hands folded, a purse dangling from her fingers, and with a look of quiet determination behind her glasses.

The ceremony fittingly brought together President Obama and both Democratic and Republican congressional leaders to honor the legacy of Mrs. Parks. It was beautiful and moving for all in attendance, but particularly so for the rather large Detroit contingent present. Rosa Parks, after her death in Detroit, was the first woman to lie in state in the Capitol. Now, the mother of the modern civil rights movement becomes the first African-American woman to receive a full-size statue in the Capitol collection.

As we look back on the events of these past three months, it is fitting that we remember Dr. Carter G. Woodson, known as the father of African American History. The lectures, the scholars, the exhibitions, the publications, the performances, the workshops, and the artists all fit in his vision of the importance of telling our story. He said, “If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.” This son of former slaves, who attended Berea College in Kentucky, received a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1912, Dr. Woodson understood the importance of teaching, learning and sharing history – and that the African American story was a part of a much larger narrative.

So, as Carter G. Woodson and Rosa Parks would have, we invite you to visit us, in-person, and even online on our website and Facebook page, which recently added its 21,000th fan. It’s where visitors enjoy daily Black history facts, photos, and most recently, live video streams of museum events (videos of several recent events can be found in our website’s event archives). As we like to say, history lives year-round at The Wright Museum - come share it with us!

Samuel A. Hodge
Samuel Hodge, the artist and creator of the Stories in Stained Glass series ensconced in the corridor encircling the Ford Freedom Rotunda, died on January 11, and was interned in his adopted home of Spartanburg, South Carolina, on January 19. He was a sociologist, educator, funeral director, and self-trained artist whose great love and appreciation for the museum was well known. His works can be found in many private collections, in Detroit, and around the country. We are saddened by his passing, but also grateful and honored that his works, whose vivid shapes and luminous colors illuminate important facets of the African American experience, live at The Wright Museum. We will miss him.

Click here to download our April 2013 Member Newsletter

MARCH 2013: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War. Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

Click here to visit the Voices of the Civil War blog to see previous episodes.

Episode 14 highlights a major riot within Detroit, Michigan, as one of many riots across the country in response to the Enrollment Act of Conscription. Similar to the riot in New York, the Detroit riot was in response to race and class tension surrounding the issues of slavery, draft exemption, and employment. On March 6, 1863 white Detroiters used the trial of William Faulkner as a catalyst to destroy property within black neighborhoods.

Credits

1. Library of Congress
2. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
3 - 6. Library of Congress
7. New York Public Library
8. Bentley Historical Library
9 - 10. Detroit Public Library
11. Detroit Historical Society
12. Philadelphia Print Shop
13 - 14. Library of Congress
15. Detroit Public Library
16. Library of Congress
17. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
18 - 20, 22 - 23. Detroit Public Library

FEBRUARY 2013: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War. Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

Click here to visit the Voices of the Civil War blog to see previous episodes.

Just one month after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry unit was formed on February 9th, 1863. This brave regiment fought in many battles under the threat of re-enslavement, no pay, and immense scrutiny. The regiment’s most famous battle at Fort Wagner was later memorialized in the 1989 film, Glory.

Credits

1. Public Domain
2. Clements Library of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
3, 6, 8 , 14, 16, 18, 19, 21 - 24. Library of Congress
4 - 5.  Moorland-Spingarn Research Center,
6. Howard University
7. Massachusetts Historical Society
9 - 10. National Archives
11. Massachusetts Historical Society
12. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
13. National Archive
15. Kansas State Historical Society, Copy and Reuse Restrictions Apply, http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/499
20. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
25. Public Domain
26. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/154548
28. National Park Service

JANUARY 2013: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War. Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

Click here to visit the Voices of the Civil War blog to see previous episodes.

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation after issuing a draft version in September 1862.  The Emancipation Proclamation laid the foundation for what would become the 13th Amendment, issued two years later on January 31, 1865.  Consequently, the proclamation marked a point of no return in regards to negiotiations or compromise with the Confederacy.  At nearly two years into the war, Lincoln finally focused on the heart of the issue and confronted the Confederacy where it mattered.  The Confederacy held fast and continued fighting.

Credits

1. U.S. Senate Collection
2. National Archives
3. Library of Congress
4. Wikimedia Commons
5. Library Company of Philadelphia www.librarycompany.org
6. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
7. Library of Congress
8. Smithsonian
9. Library of Congress
10. Library of Congress
11. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
12. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
13. Library of Congress
14. Library of Congress
15. Library of Congress
16. White House Historical Association
17. Library of Congress
18. Library of Congress
19. Library of Congress
20. Library of Congress
21. Library of Congress
22. National Archives
23. National Archives

NOVEMBER 2012: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War. Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

Click here to visit the Voices of the Civil War blog to see previous episodes.

As the American Civil War continues panic of slave rebellions spreads throughout the South.  With thousands of enslaved peoples deserting plantations to claim their freedom, slaveholders could no longer convince themselves of the benevolence of slavery.  Many slaveholders became nervous that the presence of the Union blockade along the Gulf Coast would inspire a slave rebellion reminiscent of Nat Turner’s, or worse, the Haitian Revolution.  As battles spread from Missouri to Virginia, white paranoia of slave resistance rises in the lower Mississippi River Valley.

Credits

1 Library of Congress
2 Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
3 - 5 Library of Congress
6 Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
7 Public Domain
8 - 9 Library of Congress
10 Public Domain
11 - 14 Library of Congress
15 Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
16 - 19 Library of Congress
20 National Archives
21 - 25 Library of Congress

OCTOBER 2012: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War. Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

Click here to visit the Voices of the Civil War blog to see previous episodes.

In Episode 9, we explore the bounds of citizenship for the newly released slaves on the Sea Islands of South Carolina during the Port Royal Experiment.  If slaves were treated like freedmen, were they not citizens?  And if the privileges of citizenship were extended to refugee slaves, was the Civil War indeed a conflict about slavery?

Credits

1 - 23 Library of Congress
24 North Carolina Collections, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library
25 New York Public Library
27 Library of Congress
28 Oxford University Press
29 Public Domain
30 – 31 Library of Congress

SEPTEMBER 2012: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War. Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

Click on the links below to view prior episodes:

• Episode 1 Part 1 click here
• Episode 1 Part 2 click here
• Episode 2 click here
• Episode 3 click here
• Episode 4 click here
• Episode 5 click here
• Episode 6 click here
• Episode 7 click here

The Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862, produced the most casualties of any single day in the Civil War. The battle was a draw and neither the Union nor the Confederacy came out ahead. Nevertheless, this battle gave President Lincoln the fuel and momentum to issue one of the most important documents in American History.

Credits

1 - 8 Library of Congress
9 National Park Service, Paintings of Captain James Hope
10 - 22 Library of Congress

AUGUST 2012: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War. Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

Click on the links below to view prior episodes:

• Episode 1 Part 1 click here
• Episode 1 Part 2 click here
• Episode 2 click here
• Episode 3 click here
• Episode 4 click here
• Episode 5 click here
• Episode 6 click here

In episode 7, we visit the Sea Islands of South Carolina, where cotton production flourished during slavery. As the Civil War unfolds, the islands become the site of the Battle of Port Royal on November 7, 1861. Armies attack, slave masters flee, and cotton and slaves remain, once again, left with the dust from where the cannon fire settles. The battle, originally a conflict over Southern seaports, becomes a training ground for future reconstruction and what to do with those enslaved.

Credits

1 Library of Congress
2 Hagley Museum and Library
3-5 Library of Congress
6 Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library/University of Georgia Libraries
7 Library of Congress
8 House Divided Project, Dickinson College
9 Library of Congress
10 Duke University
11-12 Library of Congress
13 From the collection of Dr. Peter Keim, Austin, Texas
14 Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
15 -23 Library of Congress

JULY 2012: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War. Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

Click on the links below to view prior episodes:

• Episode 1 Part 1 click here
• Episode 1 Part 2 click here
• Episode 2 click here
• Episode 3 click here
• Episode 4 click here
• Episode 5 click here

At the time of Civil War, 18.9 million Americans lived in the North versus 8 million Americans in the South. These overwhelming numbers along with other resources had a critical impact upon the course and outcome of the war. Why was the Confederate army, representing territories with less than half the population of the North, confident they could win the Civil War?

Credits

Shot 1 National Portrait Gallery
Shot 2 White House Historical Association
Shots 3 - 4 Library of Congress
Shot 5 Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
Shots 6 -7 Library of Congress
Shot 8 Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
Shots 9 - 21 Library of Congress

JUNE 2012: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial.  Each month, new episodes cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War.  Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

Click on the links below to view prior episodes:

• Episode 1 Part 1 click here

• Episode 1 Part 2 click here

• Episode 2 click here

• Episode 3 click here

• Episode 4 click here

Many northerners were determined to keep their conflict with the South a ‘white man’s war.’  Whenever recruiting offices were opened, black men offered themselves and were rejected.  Nonetheless, they were confident that the opportunity to serve the Union was a matter of time.[1]  The Lincoln administration, Republican press and even some anti-slavery newspapers stated that the goal of the war was the restoration of the Union, and that the issues of slavery and blacks had nothing to do with the conflict.  Such actions dampened the rising enthusiasm of African Americans for the Union cause. In episode 5 we learn about the first African American men who were prepared to fight in the Civil War.

[1] William Wells Brown, The Negro in the American Rebellion: His Heroism and His Fidelity, (Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2003), 30.

Credits

Shots 1 - 5 Library of Congress
Shot 6 Courtesy of the South Carolina Senate
Shot 7 John Baptiste LePaon, Lafayette at Yorktown, Easton, Pennsylvania. Lafayette College, Art Collection
Shot 8 Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
Shots 9 -10 Library of Congress
Shot 11 Architect of the Capitol
Shot 12 The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
Shot 13 Library of Congress
Shots 14 -16 Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
Shots 17 -18 Library of Congress

MAY 2012: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes will cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War.  Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

Click on the links below to view prior episodes:

• Episode 1 Part 1 click here

• Episode 1 Part 2 click here

• Episode 2 click here

• Episode 3 click here

In Episode 4, Resistance To Slavery, abolitionists like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass use the Underground Railroad to help the enslaved find freedom in the North, while authors like Theodore Dwight Weld and Harriett Beecher Stowe fight slavery by publishing its horrors worldwide.  At the beginning of the Civil War the use of the Underground Railroad declines as those seeking freedom begin a much bigger fight.

Credits

Shot 1 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-59655]
Shot 2 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-DIG-highsm-09900]
Shot 3 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-D416-364]
Shot 4 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZC4-2522]
Shot 5 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-28860]
Shot 6 ArtSmart: Indiana
Shot 7 Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad by Paul Collins (Courtesy of Paul and Carol Collins)
Shot 8 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-7816]
Shot 9 Public Domain
Shot 10 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-15887]
Shot 11 "Theodore Dwight Weld."  Photograph by unknown photographer, no date.  From the Portraits of American Abolitionists Collection.  Photograph number 81.679.  Massachusetts Historical Society.
Shot 12 Courtesy of Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.
Shot 13 Courtesy of Google Books
Shot 14 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-28542]
Shot 15 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs, [LC-USZ62-11212]
Shot 16 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs, [LC-USZ62-13513]
Shot 17 Jewett Advertisement, Backpages of "Edition for the Million" Uncle Tom's
Cabin (Boston: John P. Jewett & Company, 1853) The Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia    
Shot 18 Library of Congress - Rare Book and Special Collections Division
Shot 19 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-13954]
Shot 20 Underground Rail Road: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, etc.  Philadelphia, PA: Porter & Coales, Publishers, 1872; MSA L1117, Image No: 272, Collection of the Maryland State Archives
Shot 21 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-DIG-stereo-1s02762]
Shot 22 Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Blanche Coggan Collection
Shot 23 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZC4-10315]
Shot 24 Underground Rail Road: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, etc.  Philadelphia, PA: Porter & Coales, Publishers, 1872; MSA L1117, Image No: 272, Collection of the Maryland State Archives
Shot 25 Courtesy of Jon Euseary
Shot 26 Courtesy of Jon Euseary

The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History will host a keynote program honoring famed human right leader, orator, organizer and freedom-fighter El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, more widely known as Malcolm X, Saturday, May 19 from 3 - 5 pm at the Museum, located at 315 East Warren Avenue in Midtown Detroit.  Also on display will be special, one-day exhibit of Malcolm X’s archived writings, letters and artifacts from the Museum’s collections.
 
"Of all the cities that lay claim to Malcolm X, Detroit has a seminal place," said Herb Boyd, author, activist and former Detroiter.  "It was in Detroit where he began his liberated odyssey with the Nation of Islam.  No matter where he journeyed, Malcolm always had a deep and abiding love for this city and the city never failed to return that love and devotion.  And for a city-wide salute to Malcolm on his birthday, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, with its collection of memorabilia on Malcolm, is the perfect venue for such an occasion."
 
The keynote program will feature presentations by Herb Boyd and Dr. Haki Madhubuti, both noted activists, educators, and editors of the recent book, “By Any Means Necessary – Malcolm X: Real, Not Reinvented” (Third World Press, 2012), as well as performances by the Amen Ra Drummers, saxophonist Tony Holland, and 5-time Amateur Night at the Apollo winner jessica Care moore.  The program will also include a Q & A session and book signing; a portion of the day’s book sales will be donated to The Wright Museum.  A one-day exhibition of Malcolm X’s original writings, letters and artifacts will be on display along with original works of art by Detroit artist Charles Ezra Ferrell and a work from the Robert Smith Collection to accompany this historic occasion.
 
The Malcolm X Day program is free and open to the public.  For more information, please call (313) 494-5800 or visit http://www.thewright.org/upcoming-events/details/446-malcolm-x-day-a-historic-homecoming.
 
About Herb Boyd
Herb Boyd was born, raised, and educated in Detroit. Today, in Harlem, he is a world-class journalist, activist, professor, and author or editor of 23 books, including his most recent one, “By Any Means Necessary – Malcolm X: Real, Not Reinvented,” edited by Haki Madhubuti, Ron Daniels, and Maulana Karenga (Third World Press, 2012).  Other publications are “Civil Rights: Yesterday & Today” and “Baldwin's Harlem,” a biography of James Baldwin, which was a finalist for a 2009 NAACP Image Award.  In 1995, with Robert Allen, he was a recipient of an American Book Award for “Brotherman-- The Odyssey of Black Men in America,” an anthology. “We Shall Overcome,” a media-fusion book with narration by the late Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, is used in classrooms all over the world, as is his “Autobiography of a People” and “The Harlem Reader.”
 
About Dr. Haki R. Madhubuti
A leading poet and one of the architects of the Black Arts Movement, Haki R. Madhubuti - publisher, editor and educator - has been a pivotal figure in the development of a strong Black literary tradition. He has published more than 31 books (some under his former name, Don L. Lee) and is one of the world’s best-selling authors of poetry and non-fiction. His “Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous?: The African American Family in Transition” (1990) has sold more than 1 million copies. Selected titles include: “Don’t Cry, Scream!” (1969), “Tough Notes: A Healing Call For Creating Exceptional Black Men” (2002), and “Run Toward Fear” (2004). His poetry and essays were published in more than 75 anthologies from 1997 to 2010. His recent releases are “YellowBlack: The First Twenty-One Years of a Poet’s Life, A Memoir” (2006) and “Liberation Narratives: New and Collected Poems 1966-2009” (2009). Madhubuti’s latest book of poems is “Honoring Genius: Gwendolyn Brooks: The Narrative of Craft, Art, Kindness and Justice” (2011) and he is co-editor of the new anthology, “By Any Means Necessary: Malcolm X: Real, Not Reinvented” (2012).
 
Dr. Madhubuti is a proponent of independent Black institutions. He founded Third World Press in 1967. He is also a founder of the Institute of Positive Education/New Concept School (1969), and a cofounder of Betty Shabazz International Charter School (1998), Barbara A. Sizemore Middle School (2005), and DuSable Leadership Academy (2005), all of which are in Chicago.

APRIL 2012: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes will cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War.  Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

Click on the links below to view prior episodes:

• Episode 1 Part 1 click here

• Episode 1 Part 2 click here

• Episode 2 click here

In Episode 3, Contrabands, we look at the flight of African Americans to northern lines to find freedom and fight with the Union Army.  Three enslaved blacks, Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory, and James Townsend, flee to Union lines where General Benjamin Butler coins the term, “Contraband of war,” and begins a new policy known as the Confiscation Act.

Credits

Shot 1 Courtesy of the Casemate Museum
Shot 2 Courtesy of the Hampton History Museum, Hampton, Va. Tiny M. Hutton Collection.
Shot 3 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-DIG-stereo-1s01806]
Shot 4 National Archives and Record Administration
Shot 5 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-DIG-cwpb-04895]
Shot 6 Courtesy of the Casemate Museum
Shot 8 Library of Congress
Shot 9 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZC4-4550]
Shot 10 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZCN4-251]
Shot 11 Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Blanche Coggan Collection
Shot 12 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-31165]
Shot 13 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-DIG-stereo-1s02759]
Shot 14 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-105557]
Shot 15 National Archives and Record Administration
Shot 16 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs, [LC-DIG-ppmsca-08047]
Shot 17 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-156]    
Shot 18 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-DIG-stereo-1s02760]
Shot 19 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-7816]
Shot 20 Wikipedia
Shot 21 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-DIG-stereo-1s02762]
Shot 22 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-DIG-pga-01760]
Shot 23 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-33407]
Shot 24 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-DIG-ppmsca-10976]

DETROIT, MI – April 17, 2012: The latest documentary from Detroit filmmaker Oren Goldenberg, “Brewster Douglass, You’re My Brother,” is a response to the 'blank canvas' narrative that has been perpetrated by local and national media campaigns about Detroit.  The film premieres Thursday, April 26 at 6:30 pm at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, located at 315 East Warren Avenue in Midtown Detroit.

In 1935 Eleanor Roosevelt came to Detroit to break ground on the Brewster Homes, the first public housing project in the country built for black people.  Seventy-five years later, half of the neighborhood has been demolished and redeveloped. The other half stands windowless and seemingly vacant. 

This 27-minute documentary takes an unconventional look inside the historic buildings, introducing the viewer to lifelong residents, activists who fought to keep the projects open, and squatters – themselves former residents – who struggle to stay warm through Detroit’s harsh winter.  The film screening is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a moderated panel discussion with former residents, activists, and city planners.  Doors open at 6:30 pm, with the film slated to begin promptly at 7 pm.

With the recent announcement from Mayor Dave Bing regarding the demolition of the remaining buildings, the timing could not be better to premiere this new work, which is the third release in three years by Mr. Goldenberg (The Bicyclist 2011, Our School 2010).  Directed by Oren Goldenberg, the film is written by Paul Abowd and produced by Cass Corridor Films.  For more information please contact Cass Corridor Films at 248-224-9063 or by email at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

MARCH 2012: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes will cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War.  Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

To see the Introduction or Episode 1 Part 1 videos click here.

To see Episode 1 Part 2 click here.

In Episode 2, "Banneker’s Letter," we commend African Americans who fought back against prejudice and racism long before the Civil War, with a focus on Benjamin Banneker.  In 1791, Banneker confronted Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson about his conflicting views of slavery. He challenged Jefferson’s perception of African Americans by offering himself as a role model of intelligence, wit and strength.

Credits

Shot 1 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-132557]

Shot 2 U.S. Civil War 1860 Map - Florida Center for Instructional Technology

Shot 3 Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Harper’s Weekly

Shot 4 Wikimedia Commons

Shot 5 Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Harper’s Weekly

Shot 6 Library of Congress, Alfred Whital Stern Collection, Rare Book and Special Collection Division, us-120

Shot 7 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-112670]

Shot 8 Collection of the Banneker-Douglass Museum, http://www.bdmuseum.com/

Shot 9 Maryland Map Collection, Special Collections, University of Maryland

Shot 10 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-DIG-highsm-09905]

Shot 11 Courtesy of the New York Public Library, NYPL

Shot 12 Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress

Shot 13 Collection of the Banneker-Douglass Museum, http://www.bdmuseum.com/

Shot 14 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-DIG-ppmsca-15715]

Shot 15 Massachusetts Historical Society

Shot 16 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-117117]

Shot 17 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-MSS-27748-21]        

Shot 18 Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress

Shot 19 Collection of the Banneker-Douglass Museum, http://www.bdmuseum.com/

Shot 20 National Archives & Records Administration, 200-FL-22

Shot 21 Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-DIG-ppmsca-10868]

FEBRUARY 2012: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes will cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War.  Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

To see the Introduction or Episode 1 Part 1 videos click here.

The American Civil War was one of the most destructive armed conflicts that the United States has ever fought. But, how did this nation, less than one hundred years old in 1865, arrive at the point of Civil War?

In the conclusion to episode 1, "The Original Sin," we travel back to the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787. Here we see disunion already brewing over the issue of slavery. Delegates like James Madison, George Mason, and Benjamin Franklin pontificate on the effects of building a new nation on the backs of tyranny.

Credits

Shot 1-7,9,10,12,13,16,19,20,23,24,28,29,31,34,37,38,40-43: Courtesy of the Library of Congress, [lc-uszc2-2354, LC-DIG-ds-00120, LC-DIG-ppmsca-21740, LC-USP6-2415-A, lc-uszc2-2354, LC-USZ62-2276, LC-DIG-cwpb-05635, LC-USZ62-90258, LC-DIG-cwpb-03711, LC-USZC6-45, rbpe 00103300, LC-USZ62-67819, LC-DIG-ppmsca-31705, LC-USZ62-2770, LC-USZC4-7216, LC-USZ62 – 16960, rbpe 00103300, LC-DIG-ppmsca-05453, LC-USZ62-89701, LC-USZ62-90398, LC-USZC6-48, LC-USZC4-2520, LC-USZC4-528, LC-DIG-cwpb-05635, LC-DIG-ppmsca-21740, LC-DIG-ppmsca-10874]

Shot 8: Courtesy of South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, http://library.sc.edu/socar/

Shot 11,18,36: From the collections of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, (Schneider Collection)

Shot 15,30,39: Courtesy National Archives, [ARC Identifier 1656604; ARC Identifier 1667751, ARC Identifier 301682]  

Shot 21: White House Historical Association (White House Collection)

Shot 22: Florida Center for Instructional Technology, http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/

Shot 25: Courtesy of the Virginia Historical Society, http://www.vahistorical.org/

Shot 32,35: Courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol

Shot 33: © Courtesy of the Board of Regents of Gunston Hall

JANUARY 2012: The Voices of the Civil War is a five-year film series dedicated to celebrating and commemorating the Civil War over the course of the sesquicentennial. Each month, new episodes will cover pertinent topics that follow the monthly events and issues as they unfolded for African Americans during the Civil War.

Within these episodes there are various primary sources – letters and diaries, newspaper reports, and more - to recount various experiences of blacks during this period. We encourage your feedback and commentary through our Voices of the Civil War web blog.

The American Civil War was one of the most destructive armed conflicts that the United States has ever fought. But, how did this nation, less than one hundred years old in 1865, arrive at the point of Civil War?

In episode 1, “The Original Sin,” we travel back to the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787. Here we see disunion already brewing over the issue of slavery. Delegates like James Madison, George Mason, and Benjamin Franklin pontificate on the effects of building a new nation on the backs of tyranny.

Credits

Shot 1-7,9,10,12,13,16,19,20,23,24,28,29,31,34,37,38,40-43: Courtesy of the Library of Congress, [lc-uszc2-2354, LC-DIG-ds-00120, LC-DIG-ppmsca-21740, LC-USP6-2415-A, lc-uszc2-2354, LC-USZ62-2276, LC-DIG-cwpb-05635, LC-USZ62-90258, LC-DIG-cwpb-03711, LC-USZC6-45, rbpe 00103300, LC-USZ62-67819, LC-DIG-ppmsca-31705, LC-USZ62-2770, LC-USZC4-7216, LC-USZ62 – 16960, rbpe 00103300, LC-DIG-ppmsca-05453, LC-USZ62-89701, LC-USZ62-90398, LC-USZC6-48, LC-USZC4-2520, LC-USZC4-528, LC-DIG-cwpb-05635, LC-DIG-ppmsca-21740, LC-DIG-ppmsca-10874]

Shot 8: Courtesy of South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, http://library.sc.edu/socar/

Shot 11,18,36: From the collections of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, (Schneider Collection)

Shot 15,30,39: Courtesy National Archives, [ARC Identifier 1656604; ARC Identifier 1667751, ARC Identifier 301682]  

Shot 21: White House Historical Association (White House Collection)

Shot 22: Florida Center for Instructional Technology, http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/

Shot 25: Courtesy of the Virginia Historical Society, http://www.vahistorical.org/

Shot 32,35: Courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol

Shot 33: © Courtesy of the Board of Regents of Gunston Hall

Prom is one of the most special occasions in a young man's or woman's life. Their high school education is coming to a close and many friends are moving on to new adventures of all sorts. It is a bittersweet time but also a very magical one. It is a time that encapsulates all the joys of being young and carefree and allows a young adult to place the coming responsibilities and challenges in the back of their mind and enjoy the evening.

This is a photo from the Indianapolis Recorder collection. It is unknown who any of these men or women are or the exact year. It is the best estimate that this photo was taken between 1950 and 1965. It was a night when young men were allowed to take the family car and young women spent the hours beforehand getting their hair done with friends. The times may have changed but many of the traditions remain the same. It is impossible to look at this photo and not see people you know; not these actual people, but ones just like them: the class clown, the cool guy, the girl with the million dollar smile, the girl who was so sweet, and so on. Pictures like this are special not because they are of important historical moments or watershed events, but because they are so simple and universal. We can look back at these photos, even though they may be taken fifty years ago, and almost know exactly what it was like.

Collection: Indianapolis Recorder Collection; year(s): 1950 - 1965.  Photograph courtesy of the Collections and Exhibitions department of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (http://chwmuseum.org). Research, caption and scanning by Derek Thomas Sojda. For more information please contact the Louise Lovett Wright Library and Robert L. Hurst Research Center at (313) 494-5840 or via email at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  For this and other informative posts, please visit http://chwmuseum.org/explore/blog.

July is here and the joys of summer are present everywhere.  Fireworks light up the sky, the smell of hot dogs fills the air, and parks, backyards, and front porches are filled with friends and family enjoying the summer.  Summer is in full swing.  It is also a time when a breeze, a sunset, or a smell can remind us of more innocent days where we would spend all day out with friends.  Neighborhoods became giant playgrounds for tag, baseball, basketball, or a hundred other games.  Days didn't pass by quite so fast and sunset was when we returned home exhausted and ready to do it all over again the next day.

This is another photo from the incredible Indianapolis Recorder Collection.  They are, and have been for many years, one of the leading African American news publications in the country.  This photo was most likely taken between 1930-1960, but the feelings that the photo conjures up are timeless.  The innocence and magic that can only be found in youth are seen on each of the boys faces.  It is a sentiment that hopefully resonates with everyone.

Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!

Collection: Indianapolis Recorder Collection; year(s): 1930-1960.  Photograph courtesy of the Collections and Exhibitions department of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (http://chwmuseum.org). Research, caption and scanning by Derek Thomas Sojda. For more information please contact the Louise Lovett Wright Library and Robert L. Hurst Research Center at (313) 494-5840 or via email at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  For this and other informative posts, please visit http://chwmuseum.org/explore/blog.