Posts Tagged ‘abolition’
166 years later, John Brown’s soul goes marching on.
One hundred and sixty-six years ago this weekend, abolitionist John Brown led a small band of 18 men to the federal arsenal town of Harpers Ferry at the confluence of…
Read MoreJuneteenth Is Still Relevant
Lest We Forget! The slogan, invoked by unreconstructed rebel defenders of “the lost cause,” referring to the defeat of the Confederacy by the Union 160 years ago, has suddenly taken…
Read More“The Winds of Doctrine”
The Sunday Bulletin‘s editorial on Math 6, 1966 was carefully crafted. Headlined “The Winds of Doctrine,” it introduced a ten-part series “The Left and The Right — A View from…
Read MoreAnd then there were none
The formerly local Washington Post… Say it ain’t so! But, sadly, the Washington Post‘s wonderful Petula Dvorak has just published her final Metro column. In it she recounts several of…
Read MoreRighting a Wrong in Harpers Ferry
In recent long-delayed acknowledgement of our own dark past, many Confederate monuments have been taken down throughout the South and in border states. Though there are some resisters (“fine people…
Read More“Ain’t No Back to a Merry Go-Round”
“Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round,” from a poem by Langston Hughes, is a new documentary that tells the all-but-forgotten story of the fight 65 years ago to desegregate Glen…
Read MoreJuneteenth: A Time to Read and Reflect
Juneteenth – June 19th — became a federal holiday in 2021. It marks the date in 1865 when the enslaved people in Texas were officially informed of their freedom 2…
Read MoreIn February 1859, A Fateful Meeting on the Road to Harpers Ferry
February looms large in the story of Five for Freedom: The African American Soldiers in John Brown’s Army, my contribution to the canon of the famous abolitionist who led 18…
Read MoreWhat’s Up With December 2?
What is it about December 2? Well, on this day in history: Britney Spears was born in 1981. The movie classic “Casablanca” was released in 1941.The Ford Model A was…
Read MoreShields Green: He Went with the Old Man
“I think I’ll go with the old man.” With these words, on Aug. 21, 1859, Shields Green sealed his fate. The “old man” was John Brown, and Green was a…
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