I’ve read only one book on the list, the Guelzo one, and if I had to pick another book on the list to read — recognizing that there are many other books I wish to read (and not all on the Civil War; currently reading a book about Dylan) — it would probably be the Colby or Grinspan ones. I’m sure the Tubman book is good but not one that necessarily whets my appetite.
I was glad Kevin discussed Thavolia Glymph's essay nearly a year ago, and I'm glad he's brought it back up. She's an advisor for a PBS documentary project to tell about the Civil War's earliest self-emancipators and their Virginia descendants around Point Comfort and Fort Monroe: "THE GATE: The Untold Story of America's First Contraband Community." (Five-minute trailer: https://www.seltzerfilmvideo.com/our-videos/chf/.)
In the essay, this 140th president of the American Historical Association says she imagines there will come a time "for understanding the part" Black people "played in the making of a new birth of freedom, an idea that a review in the Georgia Historical Quarterly in 1939 termed 'an absurd bit of propaganda, based on a perversion of historical facts.'” (Sheesh.) She says Black people's Civil War battlegrounds "are largely invisible today, literally and figuratively," yet "they, too, are archives of slavery’s destruction."
Invisible. To me that calls to mind a 2017 article in the Black online magazine The Root: “Look at All These Monuments From Around the World That Honor Those Who Fought Against Slavery.” In reporting that more than 100 high-visibility monuments worldwide commemorate resistance to slavery, that article implicitly drew a contrast with America's memorial landscape, still trying to rid itself of grotesque Confederacy pollution.
Great to see the Combahee book recognized. It is a remarkable piece of history. How do you tell the story of marginalized people who were treated as property and had few avenues for self expression. Few diaries, letters, or the like. What Fields-Black did what great historians do. She looked elsewhere. In this case, the pension claims relating to the freed slaves who fought, records of the Freedman’s Bureau, and, remarkably, the reparation claims submitted by the plantation owners to the post war government of South Carolina. Through these sources, she was able to piece together the who, when, where, and what of the situation. My only critique is that the book is a bit too “annal” at times. She has unearthed the stories and she wants to tell them all, which makes the book fairly dense at times. But, all in all, a wonderful work of history.
I am fascinated by what you write. When I grew up in Texas I was always aware of the difference between what was taught at school and the family history about the gringo invasion of Texas. When I lived in New Jersey, the history of the American Revolution was real, not something you read about but didn’t really feel. Now I live in Virginia, the Civil War is more real than when I simply read about it. I think part of it is that I am more aware of the lingering ways the culture is affected. Thank you
It is interesting how living in proximity to where important historical events took place deepens and complicates our understanding of history. Thanks for the comment.
I’ve read only one book on the list, the Guelzo one, and if I had to pick another book on the list to read — recognizing that there are many other books I wish to read (and not all on the Civil War; currently reading a book about Dylan) — it would probably be the Colby or Grinspan ones. I’m sure the Tubman book is good but not one that necessarily whets my appetite.
You can't go wrong with any of the finalists.
I was glad Kevin discussed Thavolia Glymph's essay nearly a year ago, and I'm glad he's brought it back up. She's an advisor for a PBS documentary project to tell about the Civil War's earliest self-emancipators and their Virginia descendants around Point Comfort and Fort Monroe: "THE GATE: The Untold Story of America's First Contraband Community." (Five-minute trailer: https://www.seltzerfilmvideo.com/our-videos/chf/.)
In the essay, this 140th president of the American Historical Association says she imagines there will come a time "for understanding the part" Black people "played in the making of a new birth of freedom, an idea that a review in the Georgia Historical Quarterly in 1939 termed 'an absurd bit of propaganda, based on a perversion of historical facts.'” (Sheesh.) She says Black people's Civil War battlegrounds "are largely invisible today, literally and figuratively," yet "they, too, are archives of slavery’s destruction."
Invisible. To me that calls to mind a 2017 article in the Black online magazine The Root: “Look at All These Monuments From Around the World That Honor Those Who Fought Against Slavery.” In reporting that more than 100 high-visibility monuments worldwide commemorate resistance to slavery, that article implicitly drew a contrast with America's memorial landscape, still trying to rid itself of grotesque Confederacy pollution.
https://www.theroot.com/look-at-all-these-monuments-from-around-the-world-that-1798358305
Great to see the Combahee book recognized. It is a remarkable piece of history. How do you tell the story of marginalized people who were treated as property and had few avenues for self expression. Few diaries, letters, or the like. What Fields-Black did what great historians do. She looked elsewhere. In this case, the pension claims relating to the freed slaves who fought, records of the Freedman’s Bureau, and, remarkably, the reparation claims submitted by the plantation owners to the post war government of South Carolina. Through these sources, she was able to piece together the who, when, where, and what of the situation. My only critique is that the book is a bit too “annal” at times. She has unearthed the stories and she wants to tell them all, which makes the book fairly dense at times. But, all in all, a wonderful work of history.
I am fascinated by what you write. When I grew up in Texas I was always aware of the difference between what was taught at school and the family history about the gringo invasion of Texas. When I lived in New Jersey, the history of the American Revolution was real, not something you read about but didn’t really feel. Now I live in Virginia, the Civil War is more real than when I simply read about it. I think part of it is that I am more aware of the lingering ways the culture is affected. Thank you
You just made my day, Corina. Thanks.
It is interesting how living in proximity to where important historical events took place deepens and complicates our understanding of history. Thanks for the comment.
This looks like a great read
Fascinating. Don’t mess with General Tubman!