Public History Commons^™

Interpreting The Life And Times Of Maggie Walker, Lucy A. Marks

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

As a part of my orientation as an intern at Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, I was told that 90% of visitors who come into the site have a very limited knowledge of who Maggie L. Walker was and what she had accomplished in her 70 years of life. Equipped with that information I felt a heightened sense of responsibility for the overall quality and accuracy of my tour of her home. In my opinion, Mrs. Walker is one of the most extraordinary people in history, a big claim to make, but this claim speaks for itself even in …

A Beacon Of Hope: Contraband Camps, Harpers Ferry, And John Brown, Alexandria J. Andrioli

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Stereoviews were created by using a twin-lens camera that captured the same subject from two slightly different angles. The photographer then placed the two images on a stereoview card that could be inserted into a special viewer that merged the two images together and created a life-like, three-dimensional image. Stereoviews’ low cost meant they were an inexpensive way to insert one’s self into realistic three-dimensional scenes like the pictured contraband camp.

Marching In Step: Usct Veterans And The Grand Army Of The Republic, Ryan Bilger

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

For many United States Colored Troops, remembering the Civil War and their comrades who fell in it became an important part of their post-war life. One of the primary opportunities for public expression of remembrance was Decoration Day, now known as Memorial Day. African Americans played a critical part in the creation of this holiday. On May 1, 1865, the newly-freed black residents of Charleston asserted their place in Civil War memory by leading a parade to a recently constructed cemetery for Union prisoners at the city’s horseracing course. The procession heaped flowers upon the graves of the honored dead, …

Black Servicemen On The Seas: African Americans In The Union Navy, Hannah M. Christensen

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

When the Civil War began, the United States Navy’s Atlantic Squadron, commanded by Commodore Silas H. Stringham, sought to blockade the entire Eastern Seaboard of the Confederacy. It faced two major problems: a shortage of manpower and an abundance of fugitive slaves flocking to the Union fleet. The commander of one vessel, Commander O.S. Glisson, had fifteen refugees on his ship, none of whom he intended to return to their owners. Glisson wrote to Commodore Stringham asking for advice, and Stringham wrote to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles with an idea. Arguing that “if Negroes are to be used …

Finding Meaning In The Flag: Ex-Slaves And Newsies, Olivia Ortman

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Thus far we’ve talked about predominately white Union and Confederate views of the Confederate flag, so for my last piece on perspectives during the war I want to talk about the views of African Americans. For African Americans, especially, the Civil War was tightly intertwined with the matter of slavery. They realized that the outcome of the war would be instrumental in determining the fate of slavery as an institution and believed that a Confederate victory would be detrimental to the prospects of their freedom. If Southerners had their way, slavery would likely never die.

Henry Williams

African American Funeral Programs

No abstract provided.

Harriet Takes The $20: Black Bodies, Historical Precedence, And Political Implications, Megan E. Mcnish

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

If you have been watching the news at all lately, you’ve probably seen that Harriet Tubman will be placed on the front of the $20 bill, while former President Andrew Jackson will be moved to the back of the bill. Immediately there emerged an outpouring of support for the proposition. However, in the week that has followed, others have questioned the meaning that will arise out of an African American woman and former slave being placed on American currency. Some have argued that it is not a fitting legacy for a woman who fought against oppression and the system, which …

Gettysburg College Journal Of The Civil War Era 2016

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

No abstract provided.

0835: The Links, Incorporated Collection, 1955-2016, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Established in 1955, the Huntington, West Virginia chapter of The Links, Incorporated is a women’s volunteer organization that works to support culture, education, health and wellness for seniors, adults, and youth in the African American community. The national Links, Incorporated organization, founded in 1946 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, oversees four regional areas, including the Central Area, which consists of 69 Links chapters in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The Huntington, WV chapter is the only Links, Incorporated chapter in West Virginia, and its activities extend to Williamson and Bluefield. Chapter members such …

The "Unfinished Work:" The Civil War Centennial And The Civil Rights Movement, Megan A. Sutter

Student Publications

The Civil War Centennial celebrations fell short of a great opportunity in which Americans could reflect on the legacy of the Civil War through the racial crisis erupting in their nation. Different groups exploited the Centennial for their own purposes, but only the African Americans and civil rights activists tried to emphasize the importance of emancipation and slavery to the memory of the war. Southerners asserted states’ rights in resistance to what they saw as a black rebellion in their area. Northerners reflected back on the theme of reconciliation, prevalent in the seventy-fifth anniversary of the war. Unfortunately, those who …

Matilda Bradley Williams

African American Funeral Programs

Funeral Program for Mrs. Matilda Bradley Williams on May 9 2015 at New Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church

0819: Memphis Tennessee Garrison Papers, 1898-1981, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection contains the personal, religious, educational, and political possessions of Memphis Tennessee Garrison. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, newspaper articles, programs, books, financial documents, publications, newsletters, plaques, certificates, a diary, and a jewelry box. The materials document Garrison’s various roles on the local and national levels of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People as well as her participation in other civil rights activities.

To view materials from this collection that are digitized and available online, search the Memphis Tennessee Garrison Papers, 1898-1981 here.

Ms. Joanna Boley-Lee On Leisure, Maureen Elgersman Lee

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Maureen Elgersman Lee.

Interviewee: Ms. Joanna Boley-Lee (age 66; born 1937 in Newark, New Jersey; lived in Maine for 8 ½ years)

“I think my closing reflections would be that when I came to Lewiston I remember walking across the bridge that goes across the Androscoggin, the extension of Main Street, just sort of looking out, and there was a black man with a camera and I thought, good, there's a black person. So I went up to him and I introduced myself, told him I was new in the area and he tells me he was visiting. I …

Reverend Albert Jackson And Mrs. Clemmie Jackson On Leisure, Maureen Elgersman Lee

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Maureen Elgersman Lee

Interviewees: Reverend Albert Jackson (born in Slabfork, Virginia; age 61; lived in Maine for 43 years) and Mrs. Clemmie Jackson (born March 1948 in Marengo County, Alabama; age 55; lived in Maine for 3.5 years)

“Well I like it. You know, I describe it as, ah, a place where you can shop. I notice when it rain, a lot of people go out to eat. They like to eat here in Maine. And I've noticed -- I've (inaudible) –but this is a good area to live in.”

Interviewer: “Are there any events in Lewiston and Auburn's …

Mr. James Sheppard On Leisure, Sanela Zukic

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Sanela Zukic

Interviewee: Mr. James Sheppard (born in New York City in 1924; both his parents immigrated from Antigua in the West Indies to Canada, then they came to the United States in 1923; moved to Maine in 1971).

“But in addition to that we'd have lots of summer events: picnics and that sort. But that's separate; that's a different thing.”

“Between my wife and I, we saw to it that they did a lot of reading. And we did a lot of traveling. We did a lot of traveling to the Caribbean and South America, and we took …

Mr. Richard Terrence On Leisure, Rachel Talbot-Ross

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Rachel Talbot-Ross

Interviewee: Mr. Richard Terrence (age 57; born 1945 in Cleveland, Ohio; moved to Maine in October 1975)

“And, you know, raising my children is interesting in that as they grew older and as they noticed the very differences, they were starting to mix in very well. They were making friends, and, you know, they were involved in sporting activities and community.”

Mr. Richard Terrence On Education And Employment, Rachel Talbot Ross

Quotes

Mr. Richard Terrence Full Interview

Richard Tarrence was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1945, the second-oldest of seven siblings. His parents moved to Ohio from the South in the 1930s; his maternal grandfather was a bishop in the AME church, and his paternal grandfather was a sharecropper. He was drafted in 1965 and spent four years in the Air Force, including time in Vietnam. He married his ex-wife, Loretta Wilson, who was from Maine, and they moved to Portland in 1975. He completed a degree in Criminal Justice at USM in 1979, and spent twenty-two years working for Allstate Insurance. …

Mrs. Emma Jackson On Leisure, Maureen Elgersman-Lee

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Maureen Elgersman Lee

Interviewee: Mrs. Emma Jackson (age 62; born 1941 in Atlanta Georgia; lived in Maine for 46 years; has three children)

“Because it wasn't ever in the - the -- the, ah, club scenes, or any scenes like that. Actually, we live, ah, a really sheltered life. We went to church. We were involved. But the church was our main focus and our main goal. And I -- and -- and our lives were wrapped -- revolved around that. So that might be -- which would be a reason why we didn't--”

Mr. Edgar Anderson On Leisure, Amber Panzella

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Amber Panzella

Interviewee: Mr. Edgar Anderson (Male; age 51; born 1950 in Chicago suburb called Harvey; Moved to Portland Maine in 1985)

“I just spent last weekend down in Massachusetts with-as I said before-with my daughter who played in basketball tournaments Saturday and Sunday, so we spent the weekend in Massachusetts playing basketball. This weekend her mom will spend time with her in Hudson, New Hampshire, playing softball. She's also a softball player…Yeah, and two weeks from now we're gonna be in Connecticut, and the week after that we'll be playing basketball in D.C. So we're very involved with …

Mrs. Odessa Barret On Leisure, Usm African American Collection

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: -

Interviewee: Odessa Barret (born in Port Arthur, Texas, 1948)

“Life for me as a child was bitter sweet. I was between the youngest boy and girl so I was never alone. Church was the focal point of our lives. It was a time of "White Only" restrooms and drinking fountains, but we were spared a lot of that because we owned our own car so public transportation was not a worry for us. Traveling food for us was a basket of fried sausage and biscuits if it was morning and fried chicken and bread if it was lunch …

Mrs. Rose Jackson On Leisure, Hamida Suja

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Hamida Suja

Interviewee: Mrs. Rose Jackson (age 66; born in Louisville, Mississippi; lives in South Portland for 39 years; married 34 years; has six children; had five children with her first husband; he died and she remarried and had a child with the current husband)

“And we would get together, like, have a fish fry on the weekend with our white friends, our white neighbors. And when we would get out and fish, my daddy and them would go down and get in the water and just muddy the water up with hoes-what you chop cotton with-and the fish …

Ms. Lucille Young On Leisure, Anab Osman

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Anab Osman

Interviewee: Ms. Lucille Young (age 73; born 1928 in Jackson, Mississippi; moved to Maine in 1967) “[Barbeque] Yeah. We have four picnic tables in the backyard, and chairs, and we have a grill. And I have a swimming pool, so they’re always there. They’re always at my house. Which I’m trying to get rid of half of them, but I know it’ll never happen.”

Mrs. June Mckenzie On Leisure, Aretha Williams

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Aretha Williams

Interviewee: Mrs. June McKenzie (age 72; born 1929 in Portland Maine; fifth-generation Mainer; lived in Maine all her life)

“Oh, yes we do, and they're really big. My sister in Connecticut has, what, seven children, and my sister in the islands has three, and my other sister has one. And all our families and our grandchildren and everything, we all get together on Fourth of July and have a picnic at Sebago Lake, which started out as a big church thing. Our church did it every year, and we've just kept up the tradition.”

“Well, my neighborhood …

Mrs. June Mckenzie On Education And Employment, Aretha Williams

Quotes

Mrs. June McKenzie Full Interview

June McKenzie, a fifth-generation Mainer, was born in Portland, Maine, in 1929, one of twelve children. Her mother, Florence Eastman Williams, was a Portland native; her father, a truck driver, was a graduate of Tuskegee Institute. She graduated from Portland High School in 1947; she attended Northeastern Business College for one year, and took several classes at the American Institute of Banking while employed at People’s Heritage Bank, where she worked for twenty-two years. She married and had eight children, and at the time of this interview had two grandchildren. She is a longtime member …

Mr. James Mathews On Education And Employment, Maureen Elgersman-Lee

Quotes

Mr. James Mathews Full Interview

James Mathews was born at Maine General Hospital in Portland, Maine, in 1941. He had four siblings; his father, Oscar Mathews, Jr., was a cook for the railroad that ran between Portland and Boston, and his mother, Llewena Hill Mathews, was one of the first graduates of the Gorham Normal School. His father’s family emigrated from Nova Scotia. As a child, he lived with his aunt and uncle in South Portland; the family moved to another home in South Portland when the state took their home to build I-295. Mathews graduated from Portland High School …

Mr. James Mathews On Leisure, Maureen Elgersman Lee

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Maureen Elgersman Lee

Interviewee: Mr. James Mathews (age 59; born 1941 in Portland Maine; married with five children; lived in Maine all his life – lived in South Portland for over 26 years)

“Well, when we talk about the Mathews family reunions and also the Fisher family reunions, because they're a part of our family. We all evolved from the Mathews really, and, of course, my name is Mathews. We had a family reunion in Nova Scotia that I went to in 1998. It was July; I think it was the 14th thru the 16th, or something like that, …

Ms. Beverly Bowens On Leisure, Vanessa Saric

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Vanesa Saric

Interviewee: Ms. Beverly Bowens (born in Maine; age 67; left at 21 years old for about 35 to 40 years and then returned to Maine)

“Actually, I'm a product of my environment. So when I went to New York, I had difficulty getting used to, for instance, going to a party, 8 o'clock. And even though in New York a party starts at eight, no one comes until ten. I go to bed early, and I get up very early. And this is something that I found a little bit different when I was in New York. …

Ms. Beverly Bowens On Education And Employment, Vanessa Saric

Quotes

Ms. Beverly Bowens Full Interview

Beverly Bowens was born in Portland, Maine, in 1934, and grew up on Munjoy Hill. She had one older brother. Her father was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin; her mother’s family had been in Portland for generations. She graduated from Portland High School, attended Mercy Hospital School of Nursing, and then moved to New York City to attend Teacher’s College at Columbia University; as of this interview, she had a bachelor’s degree in nursing, a master’s degree in nursing administration, and a master’s degree in institutional education. She married a surgeon and they had one daughter; …

Amos (Bud) Rainey, Jr.

African American Funeral Programs

Mr_Amos_-Bud-_Rainey_Jr.pdf - Amos Rainey

Cummings Guest House Register Pages 097 And 098, Usm African American Collection

We Exist Series 4: Cummings Guest House Register Excerpts

This is a detail from the Cummings Guest House Register. You can see a digital version of the full text HERE.