ONLINE: Make Way for Liberty: A Conversation about Wisconsin African Americans in the Civil War

press release: The contributions of Wisconsin’s African Americans during the U.S. Civil War are fully documented the new Wisconsin Historical Society Press history released this week, Make Way for Liberty. Author Jeff Kannel shines a long-overdue light on African Americans from the Midwest -- who served as soldiers and regimental employees -- as well as the roles they played in Wisconsin and in their communities after the war.

Hundreds of African Americans represented Wisconsin in the U.S. Civil War, and many of them lived in the state either before or after the conflict. Until now, their stories were largely untold in histories of the state, outside of a sentence or two about their small numbers or the mistaken belief that they were all from slaveholding states and served as substitutes for Wisconsin draftees. Relative to the total number of Badgers who served in the Civil War, African Americans soldiers were few, but they constituted a significant number in at least five regiments of the United States Colored Infantry and several other companies.

Kannel's deep research into their service and lives shows that the contributions Midwestern African Americans made to Civil War -- and Wisconsin -- history is far greater than the mere numbers recorded by previous historians. Make Way for Liberty documents their service and their historical legacy.

Virtual event:

Make Way for Liberty—A Conversation about Wisconsin African Americans in the Civil War with author Jeffrey Kannel and WVM staff Kevin Hampton, curator of history, Christopher Kolakowski, museum director, and museum board member Nathaniel T. Millsap, Jr, USN Ret. Event cohosted by the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation and Wisconsin Historical Society Press.

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