“Every Blot of Slavery’s Shame”

Over 180,000 African Americans served in the United States Army during the American Civil War.  Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation issued on January 1, 1863, stated that “I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons… And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.” Controversial at the time, the role of these men in the war is still understated and relatively unknown.

Illustrated by references to the collections and activities of the National Civil War Museum,…