SULLIVANS ISLAND, S.C. — The role of black Civil War troops in gaining the freedom of black Americans was pushed to a distant corner of the national memory for decades. But the little-known story of the more than 200,000 blacks who served in the Union forces is one that scattered groups of black re-enactors are dedicated to retelling as the 150th anniversary of the war approaches. It’s also a story many re-enactors themselves didn’t discover until adulthood.
“I’m originally from Ohio,” said Mel Reid, a retired National Park Service ranger from Washington, D.C., who re-enacts in a company of the 54th Massachusetts, perhaps the most famous black unit in the war. “My teachers didn’t know that black soldiers fought in the Civil War so they didn’t teach us that,” he said.
Black re-enactors were unheard of 50 years ago during the Civil War centennial. But the story of the troops has emerged in the past 20 years thanks to new scholarship, the 1989 movie “Glory,” and Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on the Civil War.
In this photo taken July 17, 2010, re-enactors portray members of the 54th Massachusetts regiment during a program at Fort Moultrie, on Sullivans Island, S.C.
FULL STORY AT LINK
Story & Photo Credit: Bruce Smith /The Associated Press, 2010 Copyright
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
- African American Civil War Memorial and Museum: www.afroamcivilwar.org
- 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment: www.mass54thcompany-a.com
- Company B, 54th Massachusetts: www.54thmass.org
SEARCH BLACK CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS ON FLICKR
