Virginia at oberlin she has created the history design lab that allows students to develop scholarly projects that involve approaches that range from digital humanities, exhibit design, oral history and remember what i said about speakers and their commitment to mentorship and to education. Shes the author of essays published in 2018 and 19 in the civil war and the transformation of american citizenship and new perspectives on the union war. As i was preparing this introduction, i read her work in the flagship journal Civil War History as part of a round table discussion about the new civil war revisionism. Her book manuscripted mentioned in your printed program is now under contract, im pleased to say with the unc press. It examines how black women strategically used the laws geography of the Nations Capital to make claims to liberty during the civil war. It is from that work that her program today is derived. Free women, mobileizing emancipation and citizenship and selfmaking in wartime washington, d. C. Ladies and gentlemen, tamkia nunley. [ applause ] thank you. Good afternoon and i should thank you extra because it is after lunch, late in the afternoon and you are still here. And so thank you very much. Thank you to john coski and the staff at the American Civil War museum for the invitation to share my work and for organizing and hosting such an exciting symposium. It has been a pleasure to get to know some of you all and also some of the members of the museum. I wan to kind of preface my talk by saying sometimes work like mine is accused of being pessimistic and so id like to kind of just say that i didnt go into the archive looking for trouble. That i found some very fascinating, interesting letters and claims and i thought that they were worth discussing and it kind of contextualized and changes the kind of conversation that we have about the civil war and im good with that. Im okay with that. So if you accuse me of being a pessimist, ill say okay, thats fine. So ill proceed with my talk. So my work on enslaved women during the civil war is largely concentrated in washington, d. C. And the archival sources reveal the ways that freed women responded to the war, but the sources show how decisions made in washington map on to the experiences of africanamerican women more broadly throughout the chesapeake. Today i offer a few vignettes, some appear in the forthcoming book and others which i examibbed during a trip to the archives here in december. Reach vignette reveal the conditions that war brought and envisioned lives and selves anew and expressed frustrations when change did not come to them fast enough. What we see then is atapestry of perspectives that reveal the complexities of enslaved womens experiences during the war. It examines the reaction of enslaved women whether or not they fled or remained on plantations or in house holds they lived prior to the war. I would argue, however, that this dichotomy of those who fled to the union army oversimplifies the complexity of the experiences during the war. And so i think this is important because the way that ive learned about the war and the role of africanamericans is that there is a war happening and then the emancipation proclamation happens and then somehow africanamericans in the Confederate States are freed. And it is sort of legislation driving the narrative of emancipation and how we understand that. And that happens but more things also happen. Even as the war shifted conditions in favor of emancipation, the struggle to become free or even retaliate against former owners looked different for enslaved women depending on the region, the site of bondage and the governing and bodies that ruled those territories and the behavior of soldiers and civilians within the vicinity. As the war progressed soldiers and officials and legislators empowered by martial law and legislation helped usher in emancipation. Refugey women took steps necessary to secure freedom while prompting a social contract between themselves and the government. At various moments they made a series of negotiations with federal officials and in other instances when the law was not on their side they took action of their own volition. They expressed their own understandings of their rights. Furthermore, black women refugee articulated the claims entitled to a free person and therefore initiated the process through which they transition from the status of enslaved to freed women and from freed women to american citizen. This process of selfactualization or selfmaking reflected long held beliefs about liberty of black women during the war and the self making black women reacted in a variety of ways and navigating the terrain that dictated the terms of bondage of freedom in washington, virginia and maryland. The outcomes of the war were contingent on black womens war time navigation of the shifting policies of the government solidify this point. The displacement caused by the war shaped the ways that refugee women traveled to the nations capitol in search for loved ones, shelter, clothek, medical care and employee. Historian sean der manning referred to this as troubled refuge and reminds us that weve barely touched the surface of the degree of suffering by enslaved women and children during the war. Those who became free still struggle to realize the rights to their own labor and found conditions in the capitol precarious at best. The emancipation process in washington, d. C. Involved critical policies and these include and i think worth noting because it demonstrates that this these laws involve a process, right. The first confiscation act in 1861. The d. C. Emancipation act of 1862, the supplemental act of 1862, the second confiscation act of 1862, the emancipation proclamation of 1863 and the repeal of the fugitive slave law in 1864 and many laws later slaves all slaves eventually become free, right. This complicated sequence of policy changes had varying impacts on the lives of black women particularly those arriving from neighboring slave holding states. Nestled between the confederate territory in virginia and the loyal slate stave of maryland, wartime policy in the district created Uncertain Terms of liberty that black women struggled to decode. In the spring of 1862 Congress Freed just over 3,000 enslaved peoples in the Nations Capital. It set in process the act a felony and compliance with a new order through kprensation for eachen slated person freed. Slave owners were offered an amount of money determined by the assessed value of each enslaved person which at times exceeded the 300 allotted by the measure. The property disputes that ensued disrupts the social fabric of the chesapeake. Black women stood ready for the possibilities but legislators were unsure as they cautiously entertain the prospects of emancipation with broader implications in mind. So vignette one, board of commissioners in 1862 an enslaved girl submitted a petition for her freedom. All the slave holder had applied for compensation for her mother and father who resided with him in the district he declared that maria was not freed and argued because they shz been hired out to a man outside of the district the new law did not apply to her. While scholars have arguing that the hiring out system of enslavement had undermined slavery in urban areas in this case it preserves the institution by drawing upon the chesapeake origins. The board in the district of columbiao pined that all out of the district when the bill was approved are consequently slaves still. Thus maria remain enslaved during the duration of the war. Her owner received compensation for her parents but found a way to validate her own claims to freedom. The former slave holder still held the reins and his Property Rights were retained accordingly in. In another case on december 16th, 1862, emily wedge filed petitions on behalf of herself and two children and her sister alice thomas who all enslaved property belonging to alexander mccormick. Emily saw an opportunity. He reluctantly appeared before the clerk of the court after receipt of a summons. According to the Court Records mccormick denied the constitutionality of the emancipation act and would bide his time until it was declared unconstitutional. He was a citizen with rights to property and why would anyone take seriously the claims by an enslaved woman at this point in the war. Before the case was decided he reappeared before the clerk before the district and threatened the Property Rights and excluded white residents from any democratic process that decides the fate of the slavery in washington. The facts of emilys case reveal the unique geographic of district. She forced mccormick to contend with the testimony against him. The supplemental act passed in the summer of 1862 permitted enslaved women in the district of columbia to testify against white men and women for the first time. Regarding the actual case, evidence shows that mccormicks farm was located along the border dividing the district from maryland and one day after the emancipation act became law he instructed the slaves to reside on the maryland side of his property. According to the records of the board of commissioners, he built a small tenement on the maryland side while his living quarters were in washington allow with the cow pen and other buildings on homestead. While he prohibited them traveling to the district side of the property it was proven that alice was required to drive pasture from the cattle to the cow pen which was technically located within the boundaries of the Nations Capital. Witnesses testified they had seen the women and children in his homedaly and for seven or eight weeks they had resided in the district with an older man also bearing the last name wedge who is the father of emilys husband and the board acknowledged her right to claim freedom under the emancipation act. So how could enslaved women and girls appeal to the court or testify against slave holders under the new regime . The logistical issues presented by the emancipation act let to the act of july 12th, 1862 which set force free women claimed instances when a former owner refused to apply for compensation. It states in all judicial proceedings there should be no exclusion on the account of color. Slaves people testified against white people against the supplemental act and i point this out because we cant really understand the d. C. Emancipation act of 1862 without understanding the supplemental act and how it sort of helped complete that process of emancipation in d. C. Slave testimony would be critical in the efforts of black women and men to counter arguments they were not residents of the district or unlawfully claimed entitlement. For the first time in the history of the Nations Capital women would testify against white men and women in the court and this offered a more expensive means to claim freedom but it clashed with skrifting laws in surrounding counties. Depending on whether the laws of the confederate or union applies, some could be considered enslaved even as wartime emancipation took its course. The fugitive slave law stated that fugitives must be returned and penalties should be imposed on officials and locals who refuse to return them. Therefore while thousands of enslaved women made their way to the district from maryland and delaware they claimed freedom illegally even after the abolishment of the black codes the courts enforced fugitive slave laws on states that professed loyalty to the union. White Property Rights were not amicable to the union, secession was. Thus black women remained in a state of legal limbo as they nave galted wartime policy in states loyal to the union and against the interest of those in the confederacy. The border could underminor work in favor of the navigation of wartime transformations. Second vignette, contraband camps. Refugee women who arrived in the capitol during the civil war confronted uncertainty. Some free women traveled to encampments supervised by military personnel and these were referred to as quote unquote contraband camps near the capital and Masons Island or Roosevelt Island where the first trained colored troops trained and they housed approximately 1500 former slaves and 100 family homes. The village was known for the rather Large Population of women, children and elders frequently depicted as dependents of the government. Dependents as a term contrasted ideas about liberty and citizenship and refugees were regarded as a burden to the government and the military. Government officials envision the camp as only a temporary community and hoped to make Employment Arrangements for white families in need of labor in the north. The communities cultivated gardens, earned wages, built homes, sold clothing and built a school for children and a hospital. When offered a refuge from violence and exploitation, many freed people made plans to work and develop lands for themselves and families. Residents felt they created Sustainable Living conditions to allow them to experience the privilege of citizenship. Contrastingly across the potomac between 12th and q. Street camp barker appeared different than freedmans village and looked more like a tent city with higher mortality rates and unsanitary living condition. In 1864 when they decided to move residents to freedmans village, 685 refused to set foot on the slave holding territory. That is how people thought of virginia even though freedmans villeth was a better camp. Charged between 5 and 8 for damp and cold shacks and winters in the district, black women found it difficult to earn a sufficient living and keep themselves and family healthy. Many black children lost both parents during the war or were forced to rely on overcrowded orphanage and closest relatives to struggle for survive and often ended in death. As they evicted people one grandmother was forced to leave the premised as her grandson was dying beside her. The grandmother who had taken care of the grandson since the mothers death begged to stay until the child died but was refused, end quote. Camp barker organized by the government to house and employ refugees served as an outpost of freedom and failure. Observed that in 1864 there is now suffering but it is chiefly amongst the women with small children. These could barely contain the necessaries of life, end quote. The traumas of war imperilled black women to precarious conditions as many were charged with caring for young and elderly kin. Like many wars Women Associated with poverty and black women were vulnerable to Sexual Violence as we learned with lizzy shorter. Their treatment reflected the view by a country that renders black womens body as chattel. Refugees flocked to union lines searching for asylum and opportunities to reclaim families and find work in sustainable communities built by freed men and women. Much needed assistance but also at times subjected refugee women to conditions similar to that of slavery. Contraband camps could be saturated with habits that reminded black women that for the moment emancipation remained incomplete. The story of one black woman Lucy Ellen Johnson is illuminating. Upon her arrival at camp Barker Johnson understood she was supposed to work in the camp and, quote, earn my food and clothing like other contrabands. She moved into the camp with her mother while her husband worked for the union army. In fact prior to his arrival she was a chamber maid on a steamboat ship showing history of employment. Shortly after arriving at the camp, johnson had become ill and unable to perform her responsibles. When she asked for a blanket and clothing she was interrogated by the official who distributed supplies. Nichols could not understand why johnsons husband had not provided foreher but johnson needed im here to provide my board in the same ways that others have. She requested money from her husband by nichols responded you cant buy them from me, you cant buy anything, end quote. Nichols clearly despised johnson and recented what he perceived as her dependence upon the government. Johnson argued if her arrangements at the camp were problematic nichols should have spoken to her husband about the matter so they would find work elsewhere. Nichols became angry and ordered johnson to a room where she was pinned down and harassed by a corporal, sergeant and soldiers. The gang took her to a tent where they kicked her and grabbed her by the throat and fastened a robe around my two thumbs and raised me from my ground so my weight was suspended by my thumbs. They adjusted the rope and hung her by her wrists in this position one kicked me, another choked my throat and stuffed dirty wool in my mouth after a half hour of tarture she was finally released. According to one assessment more than 30 people filed testimony regarding the abusive treatment of freed people at camp barker. Stories are vivid reminders of the violent undercurrent of white contempt during the moment of emancipation. This context for refugee women who migrated to the Nations Capital manifested from abuse in contraband camps to mob violence in the city. It was not foreclosed by the contraband camps. And the fact that refugee women made it to union lines did not guarantee soldier from military and government officials. Experiences were informed by the temperament and attitudes of those in position to wield the power of the federal government. As johnsons story tells us, legislation alone could not secure liberty and protection for africanamerican women. The third vignette, virginia. In february 1864 fannie, an enslaved woman on the estate belonging to john kerry must have heard news from afar of the developments of the war. She now lived within the legal jurisdiction of the Confederate States of america and the court fixed her value at 800. This was no small figure in antebellum or wartime terms but in the csa this amount was particularly significant if not inflated. Moreover just as washington, d. C. Was the citadel of the union, richmond became the strong hold of the confederacy and learned by the advancement made by lees army and the beginning of the war and the losses that smattered throughout neighboring battles. Word of emancipation spread among enslaved women in richmond and they waited in the grip of bondage where the laws of the ant bell um era remained and the demands were present in the daytoday lives. In 1864 transformation seemed to unfold everywhere but in richmond and much to john kerrys dismace fannie set one of the buildings on his state on fire. Arson occurred regularly before the war but when there was increasingly depleted resources it exacerbated tensions within the confederacy. Her testimony is absent in the record but we could infer a number of motivations. The scholarship on slave resistance confirms of persistence of intentional acts of arson committed by enslaved people during the time of war. In the cases where the governor deemed appropriate, we see fewer instances of leniency during the war. As a result, fannie received a sentence of sale and transportation beyond the limit of the csa and she was purchased at the sum of 800 and remained there during the duration of the war. Her experience was neither defined by flight or willingness to remain but revealed the ways in which enslaved women might find themselves confined within the bastion of confederate territory with limited recourse beyond retaliation. A woman accused of arson, jane, an enslaved woman in virginia pled not guilty to setting a blaze the dwelling home of her owner charles woodson. And subsequently received a sentence of death by hanging, the governor commuted the sentence to sale and transportation outside of the limit of csa. And the penitentiary in virginia purchased jane at the sum of 2,000 which is not completely surprising given the currency inflation toward the close of the war. By 1864 enslaved woman learned of how wartime legislation freed thousands of former slaves an union arms encroached upon southern territories and brought news of emancipation but for these women who lived within the final stronghold of lees army and the seat of the confederate government freedom did not appear within reach even if it did in view. Fannie and janes experiences illuminate the ways that reactions to the war could be circumscribed by varying conditions of war and sovereign nations which were complex in and of themselves. For some reaching union lines could be nearly impossible or came with its own challenges and refugee women who escaped confederate territory did not simply do so because of the emancipation proclamation gave them authority to do so instead they charted hazardous terrain and fought nearby residents willing to expose them. Wartime emancipation sparked a violent backlash across regional boundaries from those who maintained the view that africanamericans burdened the nation and should by every means be returned to slavery or relegated to second class citizenship. During the war and toward the end maryland was a point of convention for refugee women and slave holders even after the state had adopted a new constitution banning the practice of slavery. The fourth vignette, maryland. On november 14th, 1864, days prior to the state of the article 24 of the new constitution which made slavery illegal took affect, mary bank sent a letter that testified that her owner, quote, treated me badly and this is my principle on the in leaving and informed that he that Abraham Lincoln could not free me and he had no right to do so. Much of the maryland black coats were no longer in effect but the constitution did not make leaving did make leaving an employer a punishable crime for black marylanders. Free women struggled against resistance to realize liberty for themselves and children and family members. Countless cases of child abduction emerged as southerns made efforts to reconstitute the labor force and that free labor system in maryland actually catalyzed a corrupt system of child labor exploitation. Freed women made the case for their parental rights. Maryland involved a collaboration between former slave owners and local justices committed to the order of the old south. The marshall of the district of columbia Andrew Stafford said that days after the adoption of the new constitution, a rush was made to the Orphans Court of this county for the purpose of having all children under 21 years of age bound to former owners under the apprentice law of the state, end quote. These were validated by local judges who decided in favor of the former master and determined that black parents were unfit to provide for their children, particularly where the father was away at work or war and could not directly claim the childs labor. In maryland decisions of the court reflected a racial and gender hierarchy that prioritied the interest of white first and then men as the head of household before the head of mothers. The courts reenforced white pour and paternalism to decide the fate of black families. Although the labors of all household members were critical to the subsistence of families during the 19th century, the Orphans Court failured to acknowledge the protection of the labor of their children and the judges supported apprenticeship as parents searched for children attempted to claim guardianship and faced threats and intimidation from former owners. In many instances slave holders hoped to entice parents to remain on the farms by with holding the children. As a result, black women sometimes took matters in their own hands in order to retrieve children from the grips of exploitation and create a life to enjoy the fruits of their own labor. A woman who belonged to william town sand in maryland told him, quote, of my having become free and desire my mast tore give my children and my bed clothes. He told me that i was free. But that my children should be bound to him, end quote. She testified further that he locked my children up so i could not find them. I afterwards got my by stealth and brought them to baltimore, end quote. Camper like mym other freed women risked her life to save her children and she con fe concluded her statement by saying i hid them, end quote. As the story reveals the Union Government made the freedom of black women and children lawful but not always tangible. Even upon assuming freedom rights gained from the war black women continued the work of resituating the relationship between themselves and the government and the communities in which they lived. Freed women navigated the geopolitical as best as possible. The path to liberty and selfmaking could be isolated in the absence of trustworthy allies. The assistance of kin and exposure to Community Resources found in local churches, schools and releaf organizations. The government played a role in the affairs of free people founded in 1865 the bureau of refugees employed commissioners who commenced the complicated work of connecting bond people to family members, jobs and homes in the case of orphans. John eaton worked as the assistant commissioner for the district of columbia and cord ponded with black women. Eaton instructed a captain to visit freed people for the purpose of ascertaining the condition of labor finding where more laborers are demanded and giving those an opportunity to support themselves free from the vices and diseases which are likely to abodes of filth and spending time in idleness, end quote. Eatons order is riddled with stereotypes about freed people but made clear that the duties required them to investigate all cases of destitution and provide medical attention. The bureau divided the capital into districts let by northern volunteers comprised of those working for the commissioner. The bureau sent three vfrs to georgetown in addition to visiting families the bureau arranged for 150 women to attend industrial schools throughout the country for work in education. General oliver otis howard, commissioner of the Freedmans Bureau chargediton and others apost with the task of serving as a liaison between the federal government and white southerns and freed people. Assistant commissioners carried out orders that varied on casebycase basis. Black women corresponded and dealt with those resentful. They answered letters of query about family members, addressed labor disputes and supervised the placement of refugee women in jobs and homes. Eaton sent agents into local counts for black girls who were in demand for jobs as domestic servants for cooking, clean, washing and nursing and serving as an attendant for women and children. For black women unfamiliar with the urban familiarity, there was a key correspondent that responded to their queries. Those assisted with locating the whereabouts and the welfare of family members. For black women correspondent could be in places like maryland. During the war Lieutenant Colonel green from the department of washington secured employment for refugees arriving in the capital. This task often involved placing children in the homes of strangers. Freedom proved to be an isolating experience for young black girls and boys after the war. Those who made it to the capital were hired out nearby in maryland or sent from washington to cities such as baltimore, philadelphia, and new york. Eaton wrote to a woman who hired a young girl named isabella. Her relatives contacted to learn of her residence and to reach her at her new place of employment. In another letter addressed to a lawyer in philadelphia, eaton inquired by a young girl neemed Cornelia Robertson hired to work for him and her family was concerned and wanted to make contact with her. The bureau made arrange. S to send black girls to northern cities without the content of family members. In many cases they were preferable to immigrant laborers. The idea of black women and girl as ideal servants found the origins in antebellum slavery. But they saw solution to overcrowding and unemployment and in sending girls to the north and many willingly ployed them despite objection from parents. In many instances mothers and fathers hope to authorize the retrieval of children. Liberty for freed women meant recognizing legal guardianship over children a Novel Concept after years and centuries of chattel slavery. But the end of the war children found themselves separated from loved ones and thrown into labor arrangements without consent. White locals as well as agents as times question the parenting abilities of black mothers which further complicated efforts to claim children. Catherine greens children, james and charlotte worked on separate farms and requested that eaton write to the people that hired them to demonstrate she wanted to secure her children. Similarly Susanna Johnson reached eaton in search of her 10yearold daughter phyllis. In a letter to betty devon eaton stipulated that since phyllis was not legal by bound with the consent of her mother in a possible case of in the possible case of violence or resittance that Susanna Johnson is authorized to call upon the nearest military authorities for assistance. A few days later eaton sent another letter requesting the release of a 7yearold boy named jackson. Jacksons mother asked eaton for assistance in securing her son. Women might de von did not sent to the request of the assistant commissioner. The following month eaton sent another letter with the same request stating that we deem it our duty to do all that we can legally to reunite families that were separated under the old system of slavery. Slavery proved hard to break in the region. Even with assistance from the Freedmans Bureau, the resistance of former slave holders appeared regularly in correspondence. Patsy attempted to recover mer mother along with her four sisters from a mr. Garnet near fred rikssberg, virginia. They were working without expensation. Eaton sent correspondent saying i would recommend that this statement as made by the colored woman be referred to the officer in charge of the district for investigation for the correction of any abuses, end quote. While the treatment of former slaves remained unchanged, the assistant commissioner willingness to intervene and prioritize the testimony of a black woman demonstrated that freed women had a relationship between themselves and the government. In order for liberty to translate in the lives of freed women they had to have terms of labor for themselves and families and wield authorization given by officials by eaton. They were engaged in personal and political processes of selfmaking. The black women who sent letters to eaton applied gender norms in appeals to the federal government. For them liberty was the obligation of the government to the citizens and particularly those who subscribed to acceptable gender norms to secure that liberty. Black women treated officials when the reality of lives and loved ones conflicted with the titlement of independent households. One woman requested that eaton write on her behalf as she retrieved her daughter from maryland. In that letter he stipulated that she acts with the advice, authority and consent of her husband. The father of the said mary agnes and so has full authority to bring her daughter home. No person or persons will interfere with her lawful acts for this purpose and any officers of the army so she may be so situated to aid her. She called the patriarchy to reinforce her claims to her daughter since eaton made reference to the consent of her husband to authorize the retrieval. The military provided another motivation to enforce compliance with the order. And so these are just a sampling of hundreds and thousands of letters to the Bureau Agents and many of these women are kind of calling upon the right to be independent households, subsistence households that farm their own land, but in order to do that they need the family members to be reunited. Black women in the capital approached eaton with the expectation of advocacy as they faced off with resistant southerners with a written endorsement and military resort in disputes. She asked help to retrieve her two sons charles and israel. Eaton stipulated that she is authorized to call upon the nearest military authorities for assistance. In other case sofia smith requested assistance in securing children from a mrs. Lucinda dotson and similarly eaton wrote because you refuse allow them to come to her that sofia smith is fully authorized and backed by the military. Mary queen the grandmother to 12yearold kitty complained that Charles Mills refused to give the child up to her, end quote. Eaton made clear that he recognized mary queen as the, quote, rightful protector as the father and mother of the child are both dead, end quote. Bureau and military officials functioned as federal liaisons in the transition to freedom as black women called upon authority to recover loved ones from the grips of bondage. This reminds us not every orphan was truly an orphan. Kin appealed to the bureau to intervene on their behalf. So the final vignette, back in d. C. Black women attempted to seek the release of loved ones from planters that exploited the labors of kin but sought to discharge loved ones confined in jails and slave pens during the war. A release from prison and pens could take up to a year or two after the war ended. Dolea ann jones petitioned on behalf of jon jones and caleb day, black men who received convictions for aiding slaves in an escape that took place in 1863. Convicted the same year that president lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation, slavery still prevailed in the union and free and enslaved black people could not disentangle them from the old regime. They came from perhaps maryland or delaware since the police housed fugitives in the city jail. Sentenced sentenced to 11 years in prison, they hoped to appeal to the bureau for release well after states recognized emancipation, he served two years when jones submitted the inquiry in 1865. Eaton realized that the previous verdicts based on slave laws posed a problem by the end of the war when slavery became illegal except in instances of criminal convictions. He pleaded with the governors of maryland and virginia to ensure that those confined for violation of the fugitive slave laws or any slave codes be granted pardon and in the capital he wrote to Andrew Johnson requesting a pardon for a 13yearold boy named beverly mccaul. Mccauls mother who, quote, appears like annin dust russ intelligent woman worthy to provide for her son made eaton aware of the two year sentence in the penitentiary. The court charged beverly with theft. Eaton learned thatton army brought him to the capital from fresh fredericksburg and held a breast pin valued at 40. Confined with hardened criminals the mother pleaded for her sons release. Eaton informed the president that he believed beverlys mother could train him to virtue and usefulness as a citizen, end quote. Young boys and girls and women and men who ran into legal trouble found themselves in the city jails but also in the work houses serving long sentences or working or living in slave pens as late of the winter of 1866. Life in the chesapeake presented social, legal and economic hurdles that underscored the barriers that freed women confronted in an era of emancipation. Those struggled to secure employment free of exploitation. One man named cecil who approached free people to hire them out to farms in maryland. An older man with medium size with gray hair he secured labors in the neighboring counties and leaving them little to nothing for their hard work. The bureau investigated this scheme and discovered the whole operation and new jersey avenue in washington, d. C. Free people in the district face vulner ability. Countless letter as riefed in local Bureau Offices reporting scores of families plagued with poverty and starvation and disease. One agent reported that several groups of refugees hired out to labor for wages arrived in the farms and infected with smallpox and other infectious diseases. Volunteers set out to provide rations. Agents made their way to dl and u streets where there were chanties between 10th and 11th street. They were far from sufficient in providing shelter in the bitter cold of february in 1866. Communities of black families cramped in the alleys in rear of the main thoroughfares experienced harsh conditions even as agents of the as agents provided these neighborhoods with relief. Families huddled between first and Second Street were found in destitute condition at beginning families were found. Those prior to the war found mary johnson lived on f street. Bureau agents found her living in zitusion despite the fact that living in decemb destitution. To conclude, the Union Government altered the possibilities for liberty through legislation, but the refugee women in this talk put those policies to the test during and after the civil war. The chances of becoming free were greater where the Union Government and military wielded authority and corresponding officials acted in legal transportation. Even under these circumstances, enslaved refugee, fugitive and free women were not shielded from violence and backlash. Black women and menem pl employe word. This is something they talk about. Overstating this fact wrongly suggests that all white unionists extended to refugees an invitation to share equally in the rights of american citizenship. Republican support and military authorization of emancipation did not always translate into the lives of black women, but they continued well after the American Civil War to forge a social contract. The emphasis on the actions of Union Authorities obscures freed womens struggle. The process of realizing and navigating liberty. This doesnt mean they didnt appeal to soldiers, federal authorities or call upon gender norms. They navigated a changing government and society to help make legislation a reality for themselves. Black women challenged the notion that liberty stopped at legal ee manse tamancipation. Black women found shelter, food, job and support for survival. The war and the prospect of emancipation presented opportunities for these women to imagine and act upon new visions of themselves. As lawmakers enacted legislation that ended centuries of slavery, black women and men decided for themselves their own future in the country where they fought and they toiled and lived. Thank you. [ applause ] we have about ten minutes for questions or so. Once again, raise your hand and the microphone will come to you. Thanks very much for that. I have two quick questions. I actually wrote them down so i wouldnt ramble on. Like led zeppelin on their second album. Thinking about place, and we had a conversation like night about a sense of place. Have you done any research of finding the actual sites now . Is there any memorialization in the district or in Northern Virginia of the sites other than at arlington of both the camps, the places that you specifically talk about with your research . The second thing also speaking of place, have you done any contrasting of the experience, the city experience of freed women in d. C. Versus baltimore with their proximity but very, of course, different political nature . Thank you. Thank you for your question. In terms of place, we obviously have robert e. Lees estate does a good job of acknowledging the role of freemans village in this part of the talk. There are some other camps that i think the library does a fine job of looking at. Kind of recording some of that work. Also, the churches, the ame churches in d. C. Do a great job of kind of remembering and understanding africanamerican experiences in the district. So i think that theres certainly an effort to do that. I think its been a fine effort thus far. As we see, theres so many ways that you can sort of mark place and understand it. In terms of your second question, yes, so in the book project, i have a chapter actually on black girls and schools. Its really fascinating, because there are the schools for black girls emerge leading into the war. The mayor of washington, he kind of gets worked up about it. He basically he says that these schools are these schools for black girls are a threat to the union, which i was like that feels hyperbolic. Right . But it just goes to show the kind of work, the building that africanamerican communities and white allies were doing in the district to kind of make space for liberty and selfmaking in ways that were really successful leading into the war and during the war as well. And we see counterparts of those schools, particularly run by the Catholic Church and the orders of black nuns in baltimore as well. So we have theres so many very different stories which i hope that my talk captured that there are moments where emancipation works and it works really well. And because of the help that they are able to solicit from authorities and from military officials. Sometimes it really doesnt. It really just depends on the place and the people who are acting alongside these women. So thank you for your question. I have a couple questions. First of all, im struck by the term contraband camp. Yeah. Im assuming that that relates somehow to the refugees themselves, that they were formerly considered chattel or property. Is that correct . Absolutely. Yes. Contraband was a term that was employed particularly after the first confiscation act was passed to kind of underscore this is property thats being taken from the confederacy and this is the legal strategy being employed at the beginning of the war. That term kind of sticks. People actually refer to refugees as contraband. Since they say, we should call them refugees. Acknowledge that contraband was a term that was actively used. I might add, in the 19th century was used not only by people who were in the military but by africanamericans themselves who were free and who were sort a part of the existing communities. So i think it was understood that they were coming from slavery and that kind of assigned them a particular kind of both legal status but also a social status as well. My second question is, theres kind of a striking similarity im seeing between the circumstances of freed slaves being seen as a danger to the union and in our current world the immigrants coming from Central America are viewed as threats to the union. Could you comment on that, please . Oh, boy. I dont necessarily see the correlation mainly because were not in a war right now. Right . But i do think that the idea of refu refuge, sanctuary is something thats definitely it resonates in our current moment of thinking about immigration and many cities have responded by sort of declaring themselves as sort of an umbrella of refuge and sanctuary. So i think in that sense you might see some correlation as well. But i think sort of how it manifests itself on the ground is very different because of war. War is what makes this what sort of defines refuge in this particular region very differently than sort of what we see happening now. It doesnt mean that there isnt conflict happening on the borders today. But i think the connotations are very different because of the way that the country as a whole is responding. Hi. Hi. I live in washington, d. C. Yay. There is a bridge that was renamed Freedom Village bridge in arlington and that commemorates the existence of that freedom colony. I volunteer at the africanAmerican Civil War museum. We talk about camp barker inside the exhibit. I invite everybody to come and read about camp barker. Yes. Theres no marker or anything for there, but we do take about it in the museum. Just a couple of questions. Number one, theres always a question about refugees being paid. Theres a lot of controversy about that. Can you talk to what percentage of refugees actually worked and got paid versus those who didnt . Second, we know that a lot of men are the first ones to escape. But theres this question about what percentage of escapees or refugees are male versus female. Can you talk about that . Finally, in maryland they institute a policy where black men can join the army. But it doesnt free their family members. Right. In kentucky and missouri, we hear stories about a lot of the family members being persecuted to use a word. Do you get into that in your studies . Sure. I think that Lucy Ellen Johnson is a very good example of persecution as well, right, in the district right at camp barker. So i do get into that. I also get into things that are a little stickier, too. What happens when your husband goes off to war and never comes back . Not because theyre dead but they just never come back or they never send money home. And then you are kind of sent into a tailspin. So i talk a lot about prostitution and how that actually ends up being something that we see a proliferation of, black and white women participating in in the district. Im forgetting your other questions. Your other questions are about the ratio between sort of refugee women versus men running to union lines . Disproportionately men escape. Thats just been the case before and during the war. But i also think it just depends on where the military is, too. Where the union army is is really going to draw people regardless of gender depending on whether or not the Union Military is close by. But i do think that men sort of run to union lines believing that they can lend their services, they can lend their labor in a particular way. And we see more of that. I dont think we have figures as precise as they should be. So im sort of im very resistance to this. What was your first question . People getting paid. A lot of times the biggest way that they got paid was actually through things that they needed. Food. Food rations, clothing and bed clothes and so forth. Giving them a space. Giving them space and land to cultivate their own garden, to build up their own buildings and homes and institutions. Kind of position them economically to participate in the local economy. In the district in particular, we dont there were over 40,000 refugees. Right . So really, it was the onus of the quartermaster to determine who would be able to get rations and that sort of thing. I would say that was more of sort of the form of compensation that you see most, unless you were specifically commissioned to build fortifications. As women were pursuing freedom and job opportunities, what was the attitude among africanamerican men . Did they feel threatened . Were white women supporting other women that may be opening up opportunities for them . Absolutely. There were a lot of white women, including mary todd lincoln, who fundraised and assisted with relief and with placement of jobs as well. In terms of how men responded to enslaved women working, i think the idea was that if you were a refugee and you were now in d. C. And you could claim some semblance of freedom depending on legally where you stood, tida was Everybody Needs to work. To survive the war. I want to hone in on the fact that even though i talk about the devastation and the poverty, i want thats across the board, regardless of race, regardless of where you are in the region. So i think that sort of instinct and drive to survive is very much at the center of how people are thinking about employment. But as a caveat, i do think that once we get into the reconstruction era particularly in the south, it does become a status symbol for formerly enslaved women who do not work, it becomes a status symbol for themselves and their husbands that they dont work. But i think in those sort of wartime years, the imperative is to work. We see many couples, black couples sort of owning and running body houses and doing things that necessarily kind of get them into some trouble. It end s up being lucrative because of the way prostitution and leisure pursuits take off in d. C. During that time. Thank you. Thats a great question. Any other questions . Thank you very much. [ applause ] you are watching a special edition of American History tv during the week while members of congress are in their districts due to the coronavirus pandemic. Tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern, programs on Alexander Hamilton. Selected by president George Washington in 1789, Alexander Hamilton served as the nations first treasury secretary until january 1795. In a talk titled the hamilton scheme, enemies and allies in the creation of an american economy, historian and aunler william hoaglan discusses this. Next, susannah ural author of hoods texas brigade talks about the confederate union. She outlines the influences on the brigade. This talk was part of a symposium held at the library of virginia in richmond. I was going to introduce susannah ural but she has her credentials on the screen. Maybe i dont need to. Our next speaker has for years been at the top of my personal list of speakers that i have been wanting to introduce to our audiences. I think we talked about this and