View artifacts from the Reconstruction era, including artworks, pamphlets, maps, and more.
Category Archives: A New Birth of Freedom
Boston Art Commission Votes To Remove Emancipation Memorial From Park Square
Learn why a sculpture inspired by the Emancipation Proclamation incited controversy that resulted in its removal.
‘Make Farmers Black Again’: African Americans Fight Discrimination To Own Farmland
After decades of land loss and lending discrimination Black American farmers struggle to reclaim the ability to sustain their ancestral farmlands.
Why Texas Still Celebrates Confederate Heroes Day
At the start of the 2021 Legislative session in the state of Texas, a bill was filed to end an outdated state holiday. Find out why it’s on the books at all.
Health Inequality Actually Is a “Black and White Issue”, Research Says
Over a century and a half after emancipation, why are Black Americans statistically more likely to suffer from health problems?
Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells was a journalist who spoke out for women’s rights and against lynching, amongst numerous other issues. Watch a mini-biography, and learn more about Wells at this site.
America Has Tried Reparations Before. Here Is How it Went
Descendants of enslaved people may be entitled to reparations, but what can we learn from previous attempts to compensate people for a wrong?
Racial Economic Inequality
A century and a half after emancipation, Black Americans face economic challenges that have only been exacerbated by a global pandemic.
How Urban Design Can Make or Break Protests
Learn how city geography can affect protests and their outcomes.
Land and the roots of African-American poverty
Read this article to learn how inequalities were perpetuated after slavery was abolished. Consider this researcher’s opinions on generational wealth and systemic poverty.
Group Working To Publicize 1867’s ‘Fourth Of July To Remember’
On Independence Day in 1867, an estimated 10,000 African Americans gathered in Lexington, Kentucky, to hear prominent civil rights leaders speak. Read this article for an account of the almost-forgotten event.
Yesteryears: In Civil War illustrator Waud’s hands, pen was as mighty as the sword
At the time of the Civil War, cameras were too slow to capture scenes of the battles. Illustrator Alfred Rudolph Waud was among the artists who provide first-hand visuals at the Battle of Bull Run and other key battles.
Colson Whitehead’s ‘Underground Railroad’ Is a Literal Train to Freedom
In this Fresh Air interview, author Colson Whitehead talks about how he re-imagined the escape from enslavement.
Discovery Leads Yale to Revise a Chapter of Its Black History
Recently found letters and documents have uncovered that Richard Henry Green, an African-American man, graduated from Yale in 1857, nearly 20 years earlier than the man who was believed to be the first African-American graduate from Yale.
With slave ship Clotilda found, the work of healing a community begins
While the injustice of slavery can never truly be rectified, the discovery of a sunken slave ship brings hope that some form of justice can be found. Read more about how one African American community is trying to heal.
Annual event pays tribute to proclamation
In Beaufort, South Carolina, people come together every year to remember the day President Lincoln read the Emancipation Proclamation. Read this brief article to see how they celebrate.
A Cutting-Edge Second Look at the Battle of Gettysburg
Using modern-day technologies, a team of historians and mapmakers put together a new, interactive view of the Battle of Gettysburg. Explore the maps to get a better idea of what happened.
The Root: How Racism Tainted Women’s Suffrage
Read about Ida B. Wells’ fight to end the lynching of black people, a cause that stood in contrast to other suffrage leaders’ beliefs.
In 1870, Henrietta Wood Sued for Reparations—and Won
Henrietta Wood’s story of enslavement and kidnapping is not unique. However, her story is one-of-a-kind due to the fact that she won a civil suit against her kidnapper and was awarded reparations.
Did Quilts Hold Codes to the Underground Railroad?
Two historians claim quilts may have contained encoded messages for enslaved people looking to escape through the Underground Railroad. Though others disagree, it is an intriguing idea.