Slavery in the united states, through 1950. This was a period that witnessed both progress and backlash. For black americans. After the civil war black virginians and americans embrace new opportunities with new education, new civil rights, political participation, building new communities, starting new businesses and so forth. On one hand, black lives flourished under the new promises afforded by freedom in American Society. Black people suffered from backlash from the white establishment that wanted to reassert its power and supremacy and control over people of color. At the same time that we see the amazing strides in black process, we also see regress in the form of disenfranchisement legalized segregation in American Society. We will look at a few stories that exemplify push and pull dynamic of progress and backlash. The section starts with reconstruction and key legislative amendments that fundamentally shape the rights of black people in america. The 13th amendment, first in 1865, which finally and definitively ended 246 years of slavery and america. The 14th amendment was ratified in 1868, which guaranteed Citizenship Rights to former slaves and promised to do process and protection under the law to all americans. Its an amendment regularly cited in legal cases today. And then the 15th amendment, ratified in 1870, which gave black men the right to vote. Women, white and black women would not gain the right to vote , until 1920. Black men given the right to vote in 1870. With the right to vote and the access to political participation, we see black men embracing those opportunities and getting very involved and active in virginia politics. Peter jacob carter is one of 100 black men who served in virginias General Assembly from the end of the civil war through 1900. He was one of the longestserving representatives from Northampton County in virginia. And he represents this flowering of black political activism. It was through assemblymen like Peter Jacob Carter and other black politicians that passed legislation creating a Public School system in virginia. We readjusting virginias debt after the war and other measures like that. Or other objects we have related to peter jacobs story represent the activism, the eager embrace of activism by black men once they got the right to participate in politics. There is a book from Norfolk County which lists the colored voters they described who are registered to vote in 1867. There is a broadside of a mass meeting of a democratic republican association, which was an alliance of black men and white Union Supporters who were advocating to give black men the right to vote. In the waning days of the civil war, so that political activism started early on. Unfortunately, as i said, the white establishment was not happy with this newfound power. Of black people and acted to limit the power. It does so through various measures. Measures designed to disenfranchise black men from political participation. We see that culminate in a constitution that was passed in 1902. It is the komen nation of decades worth of measures of trying to disenfranchise black voters and black political participation. It did that primarily through a poll tax of 1. 50. It might not seem like a lot of money, it is about 40 today. Many virginians in this period could not afford that, that tax was incredibly successful at disenfranchising voters. Almost 90 of eligible black voters were disenfranchised as a result of that new state constitution. Interestingly, white voters were disenfranchised at shocking rates. About 50 of eligible white voters were disenfranchised. By that new poll tax, which is part of the 1902 state constitution. Another primary means by which the white political establishment reasserted its control, its sense of racial hierarchy was through the practice of segregation. Segregation became legalized the rate Supreme Court decision of 1896, play tv ferguson, plessy versus ferguson, which codified into law the notion of separate but equal. You could maintain racially separate facilities as long as they were equal. It basically legalized a system of apartheid in america, whereby black people were legally separated, denied access to the same facilities as whites. Even though pluses verse even though plessy versus ferguson was supposed to allow separate but equal facilities, the facilities for black americans were rarely equal to those of white americans. An image showing a segregated bus, when people think about the world of segregation, they probably conjure up images such as this of black people, people of color being forced to sit in the back of the bus where as white people could sit in the front. Black people were limited in going about their daytoday lives in where they could shop, where they could sit in a movie theater, which public facilities such as pools and libraries they could use. Even which doors they could enter. Many establishments had separate doors for white and colored people. And in the exhibition we recreated this physical structure to remind people and force our visitors to think about what choice they are going to make. This was a daily reality of life under segregation in the jim crow era. On the backside of this door, we have a display related to the green book. The green book was a travel guide published annually by victor greene, beginning in 1936. This guidebook provided a way for black travelers, during a period in which tourism and automotive travel is becoming popular across america. The green book provided black travelers a way to find businesses and establishments such as hotels, restaurants and hair salons and so forth that were friendly to black visitors, that would not discriminate under jim crow segregation. The green book was important for black travelers which also allowed them to determine their economic power, which businesses they were going to support with their tourist dollars. It allowed like visitors to find those kinds of establishments friendly to them black visitors to find those kinds of establishments early to them. Anne spencer was a public was a renowned poet and Civil Rights Activist from lynchburg, virginia, and spencer was part of the flourishing of black culture expression beginning in the 1920s. After world war i. A flourishing that called the renaissance, or the new harlem renaissance. While that phrase come the harlem renaissance, acknowledges the geographical hub of this flowering of cultural expression was in new york citys vibrant black neighborhood of harlem, anne spencer made lynchburg, virginia an important satellite of this new negro renaissance. As i mentioned, spencer was a poet. She first became known to other members of the new renaissance through meeting james weldon johnson. He was visiting lynchburg, virginia to establish a chapter of the naacp and anne spencer was involved in creating what was one of virginias first chapters of the naacp. She and johnson became friends. Johnson read some of her poetry. Sent it back to his friends and in harlem who began publishing her poetry. Through her poetry, which is admired by her peers, spencer became good friends with many important black cultural, literary and intellectual features in the middecades of the 20th century. Many of those figures visited the home she and her husband had been lynchburg, virginia. Her lynchburg home became an important satellite of this new negro renaissance. You name an important black cultural figure of that period likely stayed at spencers home. Spencer was an avid gardener. She would regularly host literary conversations about culture in her home and in her garden. Just to name a couple of the visitors, some of them included w. E. B. Dubois. We have a letter from him to and ne spencer. They first met in 1898 and became very Close Friends. This is a letter from w. E. B. Dubois, mentioning hes a visit hes going to be making in 1934, and asking her about her famous garden. Dubois was a regular visitor. To the spencer home. As was langston hughes, paul robison, even Martin Luther king visited her home. As i say, many key black intellectual and cultural figures of the day. Constantlyr was writing, devoted to her craft. She would regularly write verses on any available piece of paper. The back of a checkbook, an old th, shee, and so for called her scribblings, we have several examples of her scribblings that she kept around her home. Even though anne spencer was constantly writing, she wasnt a poet who actively sought publication. Only about 30 of her poems were ever published during her lifetime. She generally had to be prodded into sending her poems into the literary journals and other publications. She was not seeking that kind of recognition. But we do have an example from the lyric magazine from the virginia published literary journal that includes a couple of her poems. Her works are included in all the major anthologies in american and black poetry of the period. As i mentioned, in addition to poet, she was a Civil Rights Activist. She stopped taking the bus in lynchburg to protest segregated busing. She became a somewhat notorious figure around town. Because she would walk everywhere or try to hitch rides on farmers wagons and so forth, something that was considered inappropriate for a respectable lady in that day. She also worked as a librarian for 20 years in lynchburgs segregated high school. It was through her activism she was able to obtain resources to find books, make books available to black students, the types of resources we otherwise would not have had without her advocacy for black educational development, particularly encouraging literary interests of her black students. Another key figure visitors will encounter in this section is clemenceau gibbons, a richmond native who became a Tuskegee Airmen. Thatt to remind listeners at the outset of world war ii, like many institutions, the u. S. Military was segregated, in addition to black servicemen and women serving in separate units, they were often relegated to the most menial tasks and denied leadership opportunities. As black activists started fighting against those kinds of restrictions, started demanding new opportunities in the u. S. Military, the u. S. Army, which at the time controlled the air force, agreed to create the Tuskegee Program to train black pilots to fly. Clemenceau givings is one of nearly 1000 pilots who earned his wings through that Tuskegee Airmen program. World war ii really crystallized many of the contradictions of American Society for black americans during that period. Because on one hand, black men and women were asked to serve their country to fight totalitarian regimes such as nazis abroad, yet at the same time they were being oppressed. They were being treated like secondclass citizens through jim crow segregation at home. World war ii spurred black activism, particularly in the form of what was called the double victory campaign, where black americans and their allies were fighting for two victories. Victory abroad and also victory at home, victory against jim crow segregation. The tuskegee pilots were important pioneers in starting to change Public Attitudes about , not only the accomplishments of black servicemen and women, but also the inequities they faced in American Society. Clemenceau givings made the ultimate sacrifice. He was killed while flying his plane over the coast of italy in 1944 during his world war ii service. We have his Tuskegee Airmen patch, showing the crest of the Tuskegee Airmen, which is a black panther spitting out red flames, as their motto says, spitfire. We also have this poignant document, which is a Western Union telegram sent to his family, notifying them of his death in 1944. We have other items that belong to other Tuskegee Airmen, leather letter flight helmet with goggles. Also a bomber jacket. It belonged to a portsmouth native who was a goner. Gunner. Whats really charming about this jacket is you see his personalized patch, which shows bugs bunny reclining on a missile with the phrase whats up doc . So the suggestion is that this missile was going to be dropped on the germans or another enemy with bugs bunny sending it along its way, and that is marked with his nickname. Airmen really are, on one hand, representative of the service and sacrifices that black servicemen and women have made in all of the american wars going back to the American Revolution. Also, the Tuskegee Airmen help start to shift Public Opinion about the abilities, accomplishments, and skill of black servicemen and women in the military. We are now in the final chronological gallery of determined. This section explores black history from 1950, the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, up through the present day. It is a time that looks back looks at not only the phenomenal progress that American Society has made towards racial equality as a result of the Civil Rights Movement and some of the key legislation that was made in the 1960s. But it also traces the achievements and accomplishments of black americans in all avenues of modern life once the various barriers have been broken down. It brings us to the present day where we are at a moment we have made remarkable progress towards racial equality but is still a nation that struggles with race. The section opens up with the modern Civil Rights Movement. 1960s1950s and represented by two characters who represent two key elements of what was a broad, multifaceted fight for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. The first character is Barbara Johns powell, who as a High School Student named Barbara Johns, led a strike of students in 1950 in her segregated high school in farmville, virginia. And she led this protest against the inadequate conditions of her high school. As i mentioned, segregation allowed for the maintenance of separate facilities including schools for black and white students. Generally, black students had much poorer facilities than their white counterparts. Barbara johns got sick of that. She led a student protest that ultimately linked her schools case to the larger case of School Desegregation, which was brown v. Board of education, a landmark u. S. Supreme Court Decision in 1954. It struck down the notion of separate but equal, it basically overturned that earlier decision of Plessy V Ferguson and mandated the integration of black and white schools. It was a landmark decision that recognized that separate was inherently unequal. Unfortunately, brown v. Board of education was not a one and done. Because virginia and many other Southern States that were deeply resistant to integrating Public Schools led a campaign of massive resistance to try to resist that federal mandate to integrate schools. It was manifest in various ways, including the closure of schools in some counties of virginia. The governor at the time closed certain schools instead of integrating them. Theres a photograph showing students protesting the fact that they had to lose four years of schools because the Public Schools were closed rather than being integrated. Barbara johns story of the fight for School Desegregation underscores what was one important asset of the Civil Rights Movement, and that is to fight for legal dismantling of jim crow laws. Laws that had codified separate but equal. Virginia was a major battleground in that legal fight. The naacp, which often led and pioneered these legal cases, filed more lawsuits in virginia over the issue School Desegregation than any other state in the country. One of those naacp lawyers was oliver hill. We have a document which is a Financial Accounting of his law firm of the expenses related to the brown v. Board of education fight. Another key strain of the Civil Rights Movement is the movement to change Public Opinions. And to advocate for civil rights broadly across society, rather than trying to dismantle segregation on a gradual basis through the courts. That movement is represented by the reverend dr. Walker, who is not well known, who is a key leading figure of the Civil Rights Movement of the early 1960s. He began his Civil Rights Activism in virginia. When he was a student at Virginia Union university and through his pastor should i feel feel Baptist Church in petersburg, virginia. Walker, he organized a range of nonviolent protests of against segregation. He led marches against segregated swimming pools. He led a demonstration and a at a public library, and other kinds of organizing activities to protest segregation. Regarding his library demonstration, he and other Civil Rights Activists went to the they whites only section of the Petersburg Public Library in 1951. And he tried to check out the biography of the confederate general robert e. Lee. It shows an amazing amount of cheek and wit. And for trying to use the whites only section of the library, wyatt t. Walker had the police called. And he was arrested. His first of 17 arrests over the course of his career as a Civil Rights Activists. Thats one of the items we have on view in the exhibition. Wyatt t. Walker became very Close Friends with dr. Martin luther king jr. They first met at an interseminary conference in the early 1950s. Walker became kings righthand man. They together helped found the christian southern leadership conference. And organize many of them nonviolent mass protest activities that mark the Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s. Martin luther king referred to walker as the keenest mind. Including the Birmingham Campaign of 1963 and the march on washington. As a sign of how close dr. Martin luther king and dr. Walker were, we have an early letter from Martin Luther king to dr. Walker dated december 3, 1968. It is referencing a march against segregated schools it is walker was organizing richmond, and in its signed mike. Only dr. Martin luther kings closest friends referred to him as mike. Thats a powerful indication of how close their friendship was. We also have its very humble looking but its a powerful artifact, this aluminum cup. A socalled freedom cup. To dr. Walkers wife, teresa walker, who was a fellow Civil Rights Activist. This is an important reminder of the role women played in Civil Rights Movement. Teresa wyatt got this cup when she was imprisoned in jackson, mississippi, in june of 1961, after taking one of the freedom rides. Those were the rides organized by Civil Rights Activists, both white and black activists, who wanted to test southern compliance with federal mandates against segregated busing and would of freedom riders take long bus journeys into the deep south to see if they would be allowed regardless of race to go into the same waiting rooms and so forth, even though federal law mandated that. The freedom riders were generally met by violence, intimidation and often imprisonment. Teresa walker was arrested. This is a cup she used during her imprisonment. We have other items related to other protest activities, including this lunch counter stool, which came from the richmond branch. It was a site of one of the many student sit ins that were held around the country in the 1960s, protesting segregated lunch service. These are the kinds of protests that were designed to underscore the inequities of segregation, to underscore the daily humiliations that black people faced. These activities were intended to change Public Opinion as news outlets across the country and across the world were covering ins,s like student sit covering peaceful protest marches that were met by police wielding highpowered fire hoses. Those are images that shocked a nation and forced a reckoning of the status quo of segregation in america. We have several documents published by various civil Rights Groups such as the naacp. They promote these various forms of nonviolent activism. Many of these civil rights involve many different groups and networks of activists at local state and national levels, many of these activities culminated in the 1960s in key legislative actions that broke down the system of legalized segregation and guaranteed equal rights to americans regardless of race. Many of these guarantees also extended not only to race, but gender, age and religion. A couple of these key legislative moments we outline in the exhibition, include the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Voting Rights act of 1965, which broke down and banished the use of poll taxes, understanding classes and so forth. They were so effective in disenfranchising black voters. Also the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which banned discrimination. As you move throughout the rest of the exhibition from this post 1960s period, you see how the Civil Rights Movement really paved the way for black people to break the color line in all arenas of American Life. We have figures that showcase the remarkable accomplishments and contributions that black people have made in the sciences and the cultural field and professional athletics. Arthur ashe represents one of those figures who broke the color line in mens professional tennis. This pioneering tennis player was also a great champion of human rights throughout the world. A couple of the items related to him include a tennis ball. For arthur ashe, a richmond native, who grew up being banned from certain segregated courts and tennis to make it to the International Sports arena and also to be selected as a representative for the u. S. Team on the davis cup was incredibly significant to him. Another figure that showcases the Great Strides black virginians have made in various arenas of American Life is doug wilder, who represents Many Political firsts for a black virginian over the course of his long political career. Doug wilder made many firsts, onluding when he won a seat virginias state assembly in 1969, becoming the first black politician to do so since the 19th century. Quite a remarkable achievement given how effectively black people had been disenfranchised in virginia for much of the 20th century. Wasof his other firsts becoming one of the first black elected governors by any u. S. State when wilder won virginias Gubernatorial Race in 1990. He engineered many of these political victories through building a Wide Coalition across racial lines. He wanted to be judged by his achievements, by his positions, not by the color of his skin. It was that kind of Coalition Building that served as a model for other politicians, including president barack obama. Instrumental in his president ial victory, in 2008 and 2012. That was the moment when virginia, after decades of voting for republican president ial candidates turned blue and voted for a democratic candidate. After looking at these various forms of achievement, the exhibition brings us up to the present day. And explores recent issues for activism around racial problems in this country. We have a section that explores the events in charlottesville in the summer of 2017 and the rise of white supremacism. And new forms of black activism. The black lives Matter Movement and other types of activism. Activism is designed to confront lingering problems. Persistent problems our nation has around race, around systemic racism and longstanding patterns of racism. Also socioeconomic disparity between white people and people of color. Ultimately our goals for the determined exhibition is to not only showcase the remarkable stories from across 400 years of black history but also to give visitors a deeper appreciation for the determination, the persistence, the resilience of black people that have fought for equality across these 400 years. We also hope visitors walk away inspired by the stories they have encountered. Certainly, there is a lot of pain, a lot of horror in our history around the issue of race. Some of the figures featured in the exhibition, i hope, motivate and inspire visitors with their stories of sometime success, sometimes failure, but also their willingness to fight against very unfavorable odds. I also hope by exploring the legacy of 1619, which is the beginning of slavery in british north america and tracing it across over two centuries of slavery through emancipation, segregation, victories of the Civil Rights Movement. You are looking at that long legacy, visitors gain a deeper appreciation for the roots of some of our presentday problems, so they know how we got here and they are inspired to make changes for the future. This was the second of a twopart tour of the Virginia Museum of history and cultures exhibit on 400 years of africanAmerican History. You can watch part one and other American History tv programs on cspan. Org history. Army heritage days is an annual event held in may at the Education Center in pennsylvania. Hundreds of living history hobbyists conduct demonstrations and talk to the public about the military from the American Revolution to the war on terror. The theme this year with the 75th anniversary of dday. We visit a camp to learn about the experiences of the armys 517th combat team. U. S. Soldiers that fought in france 75 years ago during the autumn of 1944. Good morning. My name is matt. We were part of a unit called prc. 17th it was a world war ii unit that fought in italy. It is a largely forgotten and overshadowed unit of the war because it was a smaller unit of about 2500 been throughout the war. Inare representing them 1944. It was at the south of france dear the italian border. That came from the Operation Campaign and invasion of Southern France in august 1944. The forgotten invasion, overshadowed by operation overlord, the famous normandy operation. Both were designed to take place simultaneously. They were codenamed hammer and anvil. Ofortunately due to lack aircraft, it was not able to have both operations at the same time and normandy was deemed more important and we know from history what happened there. The southern operation was delayed until august 1944. That originally took place on august 15, 1944. Troops begin to scramble up the beach. They were prepared for an enemy onslaught but not a single german soldier appears, nothing sort overhead. Mine detector squads clear the roads to permit our tanks to travel on their way. 517th had a unique uniform item. There was a camouflage item that they tried out, they literally spraypainted their uniforms. They had their engineers fill spray guns with paint that were green and black and had guys lined up with a Cardboard Box over their head and engineers would hit them with camouflage paint and then off they go. The commander came down to camelot came down to camouflage uniforms. Blackve to green in the and they would put the helmet on and spray for a silhouette. If youre on the mediterranean in august 1944, it was a hot and humid area. It is a hot uniform with paint that made it thicker and heavier and smell bad. The soldiers did not like that because it made them even more uncomfortable. A more serious issue at the time with the paint, fresh paint, the soldiers the got wounded, the paint would go into their bloodstream and they would get infections. You can read all the history you can in a book but to do firsthand accounts and have the young kids get firsthand experience to try helmet on and see with the soldiers went through of those campaigns, it is another way to teach and another way for us to learn. We are always researching, there is always something to learn, there is always something coming out of the woodwork. Photographs or more personal accounts that we can learn and we can pass on their stories so they are not forgotten. While the civil war was fought within the united states, the conflict had a global impact. Next, historians talk about the International Affairs of the federal government and the confederacy, as well as the role of immigrants on both sides of the war. This discussion was part of a conference hosted by gettysburg colleges civil war institute. Prof. Schoen hello and welcome to the second roundtable for this afternoon. Im brian schoen and i teach civil war in early republic at ohio university. The subject of this panel is going to be asking us to step up and think from what the civil war might have looked like from 5000 feet. We are going to be internationalizing this conflict, that we like to selfishly think is americas domestic civil war. We are going to be thinking about how it is that some of the broader International Developments shaped the civil war and hopefully get a sense of what it is that is going on outside the rest of the world