The Association for the Study for African-American Life and History (ASALH), chose “African Americans and the Civil War,” as this year’s Black History Month theme. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.
The ASALH, established on Sept. 9, 1915, mission is to continue the legacy of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, known as the Father of Black History, to “promote, research, preserve, interpret, and disseminate information about Black life, history, and culture to the global community.”
In February 2011, Black History Month recognizes the African-American men and women who served as soldiers, recruiters, spies, nurses, and others during the Civil War. These people endured mistreatment as they fought for freedom.
One man in particular “was key [to the] abolishment of slavery,” says Kenneth B. Morris, Jr. His name was Frederick Douglass.
He is known as saying, “Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder, and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship.”
Morris, the great-great-great grandson of this influential spokesperson for the abolitionist movement, says, “He, I believe, is truly one of this country’s greatest heroes, not black heroes, or African-American heroes, but one of this country’s greatest heroes.”
Douglass, a slave-born man, escaped from his master at 20 and became the first person who had been a slave to talk about the inhumanity of slavery, according to Morris, president of the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation.
“He went on to lobby with Abraham Lincoln,” Morris says. “They went on to be friends. Now they weren’t close friends. But they met on at least three occasions.”
Morris tells the story of Douglass attending Lincoln’s second inauguration, and he was invited to a reception after the speech. Guards at the door “wouldn’t let him in simply because he was black. It didn’t matter that he was a spokesperson of the movement.”
When Lincoln got word of the situation, he made sure Douglass joined the reception. Lincoln wanted to know D
ouglass’ opinion of his speech.
“Lincoln pointed to him and said, ‘Here comes my friend, Frederick Douglass, because there’s no person in the country’s opinion that I value more than yours,’” Morris says.
Douglass went on to write autobiographies, exposing the atrocities of slavery, and started the North Star, an anti-slavery newspaper.
Morris believes that without Douglass’ contributions, “slavery could have gone on another 50, 60, 70 years.”
The National Museum of American History located in Washington, D.C., honors African-Americans and the Civil War with an extensive exhibition called The Price of Freedom.
“Within that exhibition, we have a large section on the Civil War,” says Melinda Machado, director of public affairs at the National Museum of American History. “We also have a separate exhibition, Communities in a Changing Nation,” which includes three sections. Two are located in the nation’s capital, and the one in South Carolina honors African-American troops from South Carolina that served in the Civil War.
The National Museum of American History also has a special exhibit called the Kinsey Collection, made possible by the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. This collection includes objects and art made by or related to African-American history.
The museum’s ongoing, live theater program, Join the Student Sit-i
ns, has an actor or actress with a protest sign to draw visitors over to a lunch counter, where they learn what to do during a nonviolent sit-in.
“Sometimes these nonviolent sit-ins became violent,” Machado says.
African-Americans received screams in their ears and hot coffee in their laps. Many endured this persecution by sitting at a segregated lunch counter in an effort to promote desegregation.
The Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies, too, has a large span of programming, including family events, lectures, films, performances, and exhibitions in honor of Black History Month.
Philippa Rappoport, community outreach manager at the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies, says, “We try to offer a wide range of programming for all backgrounds to celebrate the month in a way that’s interesting to them.”
Smithsonian Education started offering a virtual tour for African-American Cultural Heritage in 2010 on the website. Each object is set to music from Smithsonian Folkways.
The museum’s featured event, Black History Month Family Day Celebration, was held from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Feb. 5 at the National Museum of American History, marking the 40th anniversary of the Freedom Rides.
The event included the award-winning interactive theatrical presentation titled, Join the Student Sit-Ins, performances by the Washington Performing Arts Society, hip-hop artist Christylez Bacon, the debut of an American Girl self-guided Civil War family tour (“Addy’s World”), and many interactive activities to celebrate family and heritage.
“I think Black History Month is a time to recognize the major contributions to all of American history made by African-Americans,” Machado says. “It’s really a time to come together.”
Morris comments about Black History Month. “It is obviously a time when the nation can recognize the great men and women whose shoulders we all spanned upon. I truly wish it was history we could celebrate all year long.”