I was interviewed this week on the "Antietam & Beyond" podcast by co-hosts John Banks and Tom McMillan. We had a great discussion about my book Black Antietam: African Americans and the Civil War in Sharpsburg. This is …
T.J.C. Williams, his History of Washington County, and Slavery
Thomas John Chew Williams literally wrote the book on the history of Washington County, Maryland, and in doing so he wrote the first widely read history of slavery in the county. In 1906, he published his two-volume History …
Continue Reading about T.J.C. Williams, his History of Washington County, and Slavery
A Black Child Witness of the Battle of Crampton’s Gap
This September 14th marks the 160th anniversary of the Battle of South Mountain, three days before and a few miles away from the dreadful Battle of Antietam. South Mountain gets swallowed up in the greater horror that …
Continue Reading about A Black Child Witness of the Battle of Crampton’s Gap
McCauley Lecture: Black Men in the Union Army at Antietam
In 1862, before the Emancipation Proclamation, the Union Army did not yet enlist black men as soldiers. But black men served in noncombatant roles throughout the military: as laborers, mule drivers, horse handlers, cooks, and …
Continue Reading about McCauley Lecture: Black Men in the Union Army at Antietam
Rohrbach Inn Summer Series: An African American Family at the Battle of South Mountain
Very few firsthand accounts survive of African American experiences during the Civil War in western Maryland. One of them comes from the family of Rev. Daniel Ridout, an A.M.E. circuit preacher for Frederick and Washington …
Juneteenth at Rockland: Book Signing
The African American Historical Association of Western Maryland will be holding an all-day Juneteenth celebration at historic Rockland, original home of the abolitionist James W.C. Pennington, with music, storytelling, …
