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Harry Bradshaw Matthews, Associate Dean and Director of the Office of Intercultural Affairs at Hartwick College and founding president of the United States Colored Troops Institute, was invited as a featured speaker at the 17th Annual US/Canadian History and Genealogy Conference on September 4, 2015. He received the invitation from Professor Michele A. Johnson of the Harriet Tubman Institute at York University.
Harry Bradshaw Matthews, September, 2015Source: The Matthews Collection
The event was cosponsored by the Buxton National Historic Site as a commemoration to the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War. It was designed to honor the heroics of the approximately 1,000 African Canadians who fought mostly alongside the soldiers of the United States Colored Troops.
Many of the soldiers were formerly enslaved in the United States and/or were freemen who had relocated to Canada in search of a better life. Others were the sons and nephews of the elders who were determined
to support the freedom journey of four million persons enslaved at the time of the Civil War. They journeyed primarily from their homes located within the four organized black settlements in Canada West that were organized by the elders.
The primary organizers for the event were Bryan and Shannon Prince. The former is the noted researcher, author, and great-great-grandson of Private William Hooper of the 14th USCT organized in Tennessee. The latter is the curator of the Buxton National Museum. Together, the couple has continued the preservation of the historic Buxton site that included Earl and Corinne Prince among the early preservationists.
Bryan and Shannon Prince at the Buxton Museum Courtesy: http://www.bryanprince.ca/
Buxton, originally known as the Elgin Settlement, had its start in 1848 as a self- sufficient community of black settlers and escaped slaves. By 1856 it was a flourishing community that was positioned for political awakening.
ALABAMA – James C. Johnson
CALIFORNIA – Tammy Ball Williams
CONNECTICUT - Andrew S. Bowman
FLORIDA - John O. Lindell
GEORGIA - Audrey Quick Battiste
ILLINOIS – Angela Layne, Darnell Layne, Northwestern University Library
INDIANA - Allen County Public Library, Charles Poindexter
KENTUCKY – John Taylor, Jr.
MARYLAND – Yvonne Captain, Charles Hawley, Sylvia Cooke Martin, Ruth V. Mitchell, Harold F. Nelson, Houston D. Wedlock
NEW JERSEY – Keisha M. Clarke
NEW YORK –Abyssinian Baptist Church, AKWAABA: The Heritage Associates, Inc., Rev. Kenneth Baldwin, Sylvia Barker, Fern E. Beavers, George Betts, Regina Betts, Stanton F. Biddle, Stephanie Brunetta, Georgia M. Burnette, Rev. Calvin O. Butts, Desiree de Freitas, Sean Doyley, III, Leigh C. Eckmair,
Lorna R. Elmore, Edward Fisher, Katherine Hawkins, David J. Hodges – CUNY Hunter
College, Darrell Howard, Sonya Williams Howard, Linda M. Jones, Nancy Leftenant-Colón,
Harry Bradshaw Matthews, Justin Medina, MLK Library/Syracuse University, NYPL - Schomburg
Center, NYSHA Research Library, New York State Library/Mary Redmond, Linda K. Patterson, Cyndee
Pattison, Edythe Ann Quinn, Madeline O. Scott,
NEW YORK (continued) Jesse E. Stevens, SUNY Oneonta, Hon. Lucindo Suarez, Roxanne J. Suarez, Spann Watson, Judith Wellman, Norma Williams, Shamar Yee
MICHIGAN – Donald S. Vest
PENNSYLVANIA – Ron Bailey - Gettysburg Black History Museum, Inc., Roland Barksdale-Hall, Charles L. Blockson – Temple University, G. Craig Caba, Darlene Colón, Leon Clarke, Marcus L. Hodge, Ruth Hodge, Betty D. Hurdle, Gail Muhammad, Mary Ann Riley, Windy Mitchell
NORTH CAROLINA – Melissa Swaby
SOUTH CAROLINA – John R. Gourdin
TENNESSEE – Roverta Reliford Russaw
VIRGINIA – Thomas Balch Library, Jerome Bridges, Linda Carter, Maria Carter, Barbara Gannon, Chauncey Herring, Kimberly Jenkins-Snodgrass, Carol Mitchell, Linda S. Murr, Gen. Colin L. Powell [2000], Prince Wm. Public Library, Rev. R. Benard Reaves, Loritta R. Watson
WEST VIRGINIA – Bob O’Connor
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rev. William E. Calbert, Patsy M. Fletcher, Military Road School Preservation Trust
WISCONSIN – Brigitte Fielder, Wisconsin Historical Society
THE BAHAMAS – D. Gail Saunders
STUDENT ASSISTANTS – 2015-16Imani Anderson – USCTI Intern/Harriet Tubman MentorRachel Casler – USCTI Intern/Harriet Tubman Mentor, PALS/SOSU/BUValerie Diaz – USCTI Intern/Harriet Tubman Mentor, PALS/SOSU/BUScarlett Estevez – USCTI/Intern/Harriet Tubman Mentor, PALS/SOSU/BUSafay Johnson – USCTI Intern/Harriet Tubman MentorBrianna Mckenzie – Harriet Tubman Mentor/SOSU/BUTajera Morgan – Harriet Tubman Mentor, PALS/SOSU/BUDannie Toussaint – USCTI Intern/Harriet Tubman Mentor/PALS/SOSU/BU
USCT Institute & ASFD Membership 2015-16~ Join Us.
USCTIU.S. Pluralism CenterHartwick CollegeOneonta, New York 13820
www.hartwick.edu
USCT Civil WarDigest
ISSN: 1947-7384
Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY 13820Vol. 17 No. 2, December 2015 United States Colored Troops Institute for Local History and Family Research
USCT Institute & ASFD OfficersHarry Bradshaw Matthews, President, Senior Fellow, Oneonta, NYDarlene Colón, Vice President, Senior Fellow, Lancaster, PAStanton F. Biddle, President Emeritus New York, NY
USCTI Senior Fellows, EmeritusDavid A. Anderson, Rochester, NY John R. Gourdin, Florence, SCHugh MacDougall, Cooperstown, NY
ASFD Fellows & Senior FellowsRoland Barksdale-Hall, Sharon, PA Charles L. Blockson, Norristown, PARuth E. Hodge, Carlisle, PASylvia Cooke Martin, Columbia, MDD. Gail Saunders, Nassau, BahamasMadeline O. Scott, Amherst, NY
USCTI Alumni Advisory CouncilKeisha M. Clarke, Jersey City, NJDesiree de Freitas, Bronx, NYSean Doyley, Yonkers, NYBrigitte Fielder, Madison, WIDarrell Howard, Yonkers, NYJustin Medina, Bronx, NYSonya Williams Howard, Yonkers, NYRoxanne J. Suarez, Frederick, MDMelissa, Swaby, Raleigh, NCShamar Yee, New York, NY
Executive Director and EditorHarry Bradshaw Matthews
USCT Civil War DigestThis newsletter is published with editing and graphics support of the Office of Communications at Hartwick College. This publication is produced twice a year, spring and fall, for the membership of the USCT Institute and for other select distribution.
Send your comments to:Harry Bradshaw MatthewsAssociate Dean/USCT InstituteU.S. Pluralism Center101 Bresee HallHartwick CollegeOneonta, New York 13820607-431-4428
USCTI Pays Tribute to Canadian Soldiers
Newsletter
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
In September 1856, one of the most significant gatherings by African descendants in Canada occurred at the home of Sister Taylor in Chatham. A host of brilliant darker brethren convened from sister communities such as Buxton, St. Catherine, and others in what was a conference of religious leaders whose resolve resulted in the establishment of the British Methodist Episcopal Church. The new church sprung forth from the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. According to Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne, in his 1891 historic text The History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, an historical record shares that one of the Canadian leader’s justification for establishing the new order was because approximately 40 darker brethren of the Buxton settlement and area had white wives, who would be cut off from membership in the AME Church because they were not African. What was more at work, however, was the coming of age of “African Canadian” leadership, in which those who led the call were all emigrants, born enslaved and free, from the United States. The time had come for African Canadians to control their own infrastructure.
Earl Prince, the elder, standing next to the replica liberty bell that was donated to the Buxton Academy in 1850 by black citizens
of Pittsburgh, PA.Courtesy: The Matthews Collection
It must never be forgotten that the sons and daughters of Africa in the United States and Canada, of the typical branch of the Ethiopian race, fought side by side, as one people, to help bring slavery to an end in the British geopolitical zone of the Caribbean, United States, and Canada.
USCTI STUDENT MINI CONFERENCE HONOR CALIFORNIA SOLDIER BURIED LOCALLY
During the weekend of October 22-23, 2015 Hartwick College hosted 40 participants at this year’s United States Colored Troops Institute for Local History and Family Research (USCTI) Student Mini-Conference. The conference’s highlight was a special tribute given to Samuel Jones, one of only 33 African American soldiers who served with integrated regiments organized in California during the Civil War.
Priv. Samuel Jones’ tombstone Courtesy: Evergreen Hill Cemetery,
Unadilla, NY
“With the 150th anniversary of the Civil War coming to an end, it is instructive to point out that there were men of African descent who served in regiments other than those designated as the United States Colored Troops,” said Harry Bradshaw Matthews, associate dean, director of the office of Intercultural Affairs, founding president of the USCTI. “One such person was Private Samuel Jones, who fought with an integrated regiment from California.”
Jones is buried in Evergreen Hill Cemetery in Unadilla, NY. His tombstone, however, incorrectly identifies him as having been a member of “Co. D, 2nd Col. Cav., N.Y.S.V.” Matthews and Scarlett Estevez from the College’s Harriet Tubman Mentoring Project not only discovered the incorrect listing, but traced the origin of the error.
The tombstone was brought to their attention by Gilbertsville Historian and USCTI member Leigh Eckmair.
Estevez and Matthews honored Jones by presenting their research at the conference, and unveiling a framed certificate of recognition and photo of Jones’ tombstone that will be hung on the USCTI Wall of Honor.
Scarlett Estevez, Harriet Tubman Mentor
Courtesy: The Matthews Collection
Tribute Continued from page 1
2 DECEMBER 2015 USCT Civil War Digest USCT Civil War Digest DECEMBER 2015 7
In a July 27, 2015 article in the Baltimore Sun, Reporter Jacques Kelly, described Ms. Callum as the author of 1) 7th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops, 2) Slave Statistics, 3) Black Marriages of St. Mary’s County 1800-1890; and 4) Black Marriages of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. But, there were even more writings by Ms. Callum that contributed to the documenting of the history of African Americans in her home state. The June 2011 issue of the USCT Civil Digest profiled Ms. Callum as one of 12 Fellows and Senior Fellows elected by the USCTI. It was noted that she was also the author of the 9th Regiment United States Colored Volunteers of Maryland 1863-1866. She had been featured by numerous media, including CBS this Morning, NBC Nightly News, CNN, and the History Channel.
As a tribute to her work, Ms. Callum was honored by St. Mary’s College, which awarded her an honorary doctorate in history in 2008. Ms. Callum was named to the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 2014.
Shirley Althea Houck of Delhi, NY, passed away December 2013. Ms. Houck was instrumental in assisting with the original research that led to the United States Colored Troops Commemorative Symposium of Delaware and Otsego Counties, New York, 1997-98.
Shirley Althea HouckCourtesy: Obituary Notice
One major event of the Symposium was the gravesite salute to African American Civil War soldiers who were interred in Woodland Cemetery. Then, there was the history and genealogy conference held on the campuses of SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College that set the stage for the organizing several months later of the USCTI. From the inception of the organization, Ms. Houck was a devoted member and a devoted researcher for local history and African American history. For her work as Delhi Village Historian, Ms. Houck was honored with mention in Honoring New York’s Forgotten Soldiers: African Americans of the Civil War, by Harry Bradshaw Matthews. She was the recipient of the USCTI’s President’s Award in 2005. She was also honored with the Delaware County Historical Association’s Award of Merit for her research documenting United States Colored Troops.
Pamela L. Matthews was the long-term secretary of the USCTI from 1998 until her death in April, 2014. Similar to other deceased members, she engaged in research alongside her husband. The couple visited Nassau, The Bahamas on several occasions exploring the possible USCT and Underground Railroad links in the Caribbean nation. Returning to the place of her birth was always special, particularly the visits to the straw market.
The December, 2006 issue of the USCT Civil War Digest provided an account of one such trip. USCTI members Pamela and Harry Bradshaw Matthews and History Professor Edythe Ann Quinn journeyed to Nassau as representatives of Hartwick College and the College of the Bahamas co-sponsored academic symposium. Patricia Glinton-Meicholas, the council secretary, COB, and president of the Bahamas Association of Cultural Studies, reciprocated a welcome that she had received at Hartwick just a year earlier. Bahamian presenters revealed evidence of the direct connection of ancestors in the Bahamas with African Americans in South Carolina.
Harry Bradshaw Matthews and Pamela L. Matthews
Ms. Matthews thrilled the gathering with the announcement that the USCTI had documented and acquired a military record for Private George A Watkins of Nassau.
During another trip in December 2008, the couple visited Nassau to document, record, and photograph historic buildings and personalities. The results appeared in the USCT Civil War Digest issue of December 2008. Among the images were 1) St. Bartholomew’s Lodge, 1778, the meeting place of Freemasons, OddFellows, and protest groups; 2) Fox Hill Cemetery, where Ms. Matthews’ ancestors are buried; 3) Bethel Baptist Church with adjoining cemetery where many early Bahamians of the Underground Railroad are buried.
Upon the passing of Ms. Matthews in April 2014, the Bahamas Press issued the headline, “Fox Hill has suffered another lost in one of its finest daughters.”
6 DECEMBER 2015 USCT Civil War Digest
PASSING THE TORCH: HONORING USCTI FOUNDING MEMBERS WHO HAVE DIED
When the United States Colored Troops Institute for Local History and Family Research was established at Hartwick College in 1998 its primary focus was upon the 200,000 black soldiers and their 7,000 white officers of the Civil War.
Some Founding Members of the USCTI, Hartwick College, 1998
That humble beginning set in motion a journey to honor African American ancestors and their allies. It did not take long, however, to document that members of the USCT also included men of African descent from throughout the Caribbean and Canada, as well as Native Americans and men from India. In past issues of the USCT Civil War Digest, all of the latter groups have been honored to some degree.
Some founding members of the USCTI, SUNY Oneonta, 1998
Today, through this current issue of the newsletter, it is a privilege to note the contributions of USCTI members who have passed on.
Gerald R. Hunter was a proud Montaukett Indian from Long Island, whose devotion to preserving the historic record of Montaukett and Shinnecock tribes included documenting his ancestry to USCT Charles D. Brewster and Govanier Brewster, respectively of the 20th and 26th USCT that were organized in New York in 1864.
Gerald R. Hunter and USCTI Reenactors
As a founding member of the USCTI, he engaged himself in the work of the organization. A notable event was the commemoration that he organized with the Suffolk County government that honored African American and Native American soldiers of multiple wars.
In November 2011, Mr. Hunter was named a Fellow of the USCTI for documenting the enlistment of Shinnecock, Montaukett and other Indian males of Long Island and Connecticut into USCT Regiments. His efforts helped to identify black and Indian burials at the Negro Burial Ground of Wantagh, Long Island, burial sites belonging to six African Methodist Episcopal Zion Churches, and six other churches that historically had black and Indian members.
Agnes Kane Callum of Baltimore, MD, was long acknowledged by colleagues and scholars as the leading African American genealogist in Maryland. Her scholarship in documenting her lineage in America to the 1600s earned her and her family the right to claim lineage to the earliest builders of this nation.
Agnes Kane Callum standing, at USCTI Meeting
USCT Civil War Digest DECEMBER 2015 3
The conference began Friday evening with a dinner, at which the USCTI’s new Alumni Advisory Council were introduced.
Saturday’s morning session spotlighted presentations of family and historical research conducted by Tubman Mentors and USCTI alumni.
Most participants of the USCTI’s Student Mini-Conference Courtesy: David Lubell, Hartwick College
Family and Historical Research Student Mini-Conference
Participants Name Locale
1. Ajoa Abrokwa Newark, DE ASFD Gold Medal
2. Mark Allen Newark, DE ASFD Gold Medal
3. Imani Anderson Troy, NY HTM, Presenter
4. Tariq Barnes NY, NY USCTI Invited Guest
5. Amelia Brown Raleigh, NC USCTI Invited Guest
6. Elizabeth Brown-Vaughan Brooklyn, NY HTM
7. Stephanie Brunetta Oneonta, NY USCTI Member
8. Maria Carter Glen Allen VA ASFD Gold Medal
9. Rachel Casler Sherburne, NY HTM, Presenter
10. Keisha Clarke Jersey City, NJ USCTI, Presenter
11. Valerie Diaz Bronx, NY HTM, Presenter
12. Sean Doyley Yonkers, NY USCTI Alumnus
13. Tyla Dwarica Brooklyn, NY HTM
14. Scarlett Estevez New York, NYHTM, Presenter
15. Darrell Howard Yonkers, NY ASFD Gold Medal
16. Sonya Howard Yonkers, NY ASFD Gold Medal
17. Elecktra Hoyoun Brooklyn, NY HTM
18. Annie L. Jenkins Gainesville, VA ASFD Gold Medal
19. Kimberly Jenkins-Snodgrass Gainesville, VA ASFD Gold Medal
20. Randolph Johnson Oneonta, NY USCTI Member
21. Safay Johnson Bronx, NY HTM
22. Sarah Klotzbach Buffalo, NY HTM
23. Linda Carter Glen Allen, VA ASFD Gold Medal
24. Angela Brizant Layne Olympia, IL AFD Gold Medal
25. Darnell Layne Olympia, IL ASFD Gold Medal
26. Harry Bradshaw Matthews Davenport, NY USCTI Member
27. Gloria Matthews Covington, GA USCTI Guest
28. Anthony McClam Roosevelt, NY USCTI Guest
29. Brianna Mckenzie Columbus, GA HTM
30. Justin Medina New York, NY USCTI Alumnus
31. Windy Mitchell Philadelphia, PA ASFD Gold Medal
32. Tajera Morgan Albany, NY HTM
33. Edythe Ann Quinn Oneonta, NY USCTI Member
34. Tianna Rivas Bronx, NY HTM
35. Symphany Rochford Brooklyn, NY HTM
36. Roxanne J. Suarez Frederick, MD USCTI Presenter
37. Raina Townsend Roosevelt, NY USCTI Guest
38. Dannie Toussaint Coram, NY HTM, Presenter
39 .Melissa Swaby Raleigh, NC USCTI, Presenter
40. Shamar Yee NY, NY USCTI Member
The presenters at the event were:
Harry Bradshaw Matthews - Opening Session
Keisha Clarke & Roxanne Suarez - How the ASFD Awards Affected Our Families
Melissa Swaby - An Alumna’s Journey: The Value of Historical and Family Research
USCTI Members - Sharing Important Points for Conducting Research
Scarlett Estevez & Harry Bradshaw Matthews - Tribute to Private Samuel Jones
Rachel Casler - Discovering My Upstate New York Roots
Valerie Diaz - The Roots of My Artist Journey
Imani Anderson - In Search of My Bi-Racial Roots
Dannie Toussaint - My Haiti is Calling Me
Harry Bradshaw Matthews - Introducing ASFD Gold Medal Families
Justin Medina – Exploring Latino and African American History in the Context of the African Diaspora
Representatives of the six families receiving the USCTI’s American Society of Freedmen Descendants (ASFD) Gold Medal were introduced. The medals are presented to those who document a military ancestor’s enlistment during one of the conflicts between the Civil War and the Korean War. Each of the families traced their ancestor’s service to sometime during the 1870s or 1880s. Family representatives were honored from
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
4 DECEMBER 2015 USCT Civil War Digest USCT Civil War Digest DECEMBER 2015 5
communities in Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois, and Kentucky.
The Saturday afternoon session of the Conference was devoted to personal research at the U.S. Pluralism Center.
Saturday evening featured the official presentation of the ASFD Gold Medals at the awards dinner.
Front L-R: Darrell Howard, Sonya Williams Howard; Back: L-R: Linda Carter, Maria Carter, Annie L. “Mama” Jenkins, Kimberly Jenkins-Snodgrass,
Harry Bradshaw Matthews, and Gloria MatthewsCourtesy: David Lubell, Hartwick College
The soldiers honored this year were
• Private Charles Biggers of the 6th Regiment U.S. Colored Cavalry of the Civil War;
• Private Jessie Blocker of WWI;
• Sergeant Lucius Mitchell of WWII;
• Private Alfred Brizant of WWII;
• Private John Joseph Jenkins of WWII;
• Corporal Eugene Carter of the Korean War.
USCTI ALUMNI ADVISORY COUNCIL LAUNCHED
Beginning in 1993, an experiment was designed at Hartwick College to engage newly enrolled African American and Latino students in local history research. The idea was to take some students to research sites to see if they could identify someone of their ethnic background in early records for Otsego County, New York. Success struck within only a few days. During an outing to the Otsego County Clerk’s Office in nearby Cooperstown, students and Harry Bradshaw Matthews began reviewing deed books and other old documents. The time had arrived to stop for the day, but one student insisted that the search continue for a while. She was hooked! An African American soldier named Anthony Stewart, Co. E, 26th USCT, was located in the GAR’s Soldier’s Discharge Book I for Otsego County, dated 1866. The research finding became the catalyst for the emergence of the Oyaron Hill Research Project.
Fast forward four years to the USCT Symposium of 1997-98, an event showcasing joint research results with the community. It was a time when student researchers joined forces with a few local town historians – Leigh Eckmair, Shirley Houck, and Hugh MacDougall – to share their findings about early African Americans in Otsego and Delaware Counties. Next came the formalizing of research teams by establishing the USCT Institute.
Hartwick students continued as part of the research effort throughout the years that followed up to 2015. Between those years, the students became known as the Harriet Tubman Mentoring Project, a group that the Association of American Historians declared during 2009-10 a national model for the engagement of African American and Latino students in the study of history. Today, some of the early graduates are returning to Hartwick College to serve as mentors to current students.
The USCTI’s Student Mini-Conference was an occasion for the newly organized USCTI Alumni Advisory Council (AAC) to introduce itself to students and friends at the Saturday luncheon. During Saturday’s dinner, the founding members of AAC shared the charge the following organizational mission and aims.
Sean Doyley, Darrell Howard, Sonya Williams Howard, Melissa Swaby, Keisha Clarke, Roxanne Suarez, Justin Medina and Shamar Yee with USCTI Founding President Harry
Bradshaw Matthews and little Amelia Brown. (Absent from picture: Brigitte Fielder and Desiree de Freitas)
Source: USCTI Alumni Advisory Council (L-R)
Mission of the CouncilThe mission of the USCTI Advisory Council is to advance the efforts of the USCTI while instituting programs that encourage mentoring between alumni/alumnae and current students who hold membership in diverse organizations that interact regularly with the USCTI.
Aims of the Council
Aims of the Council are the following:
1. Establishing a model for alumni/alumnae to mentor current students in career aspirations;
2. Establish a financial prize to assist one or more current students with academic pursuits;
3. Make financial donation to Hartwick College to support two diversity events per year;
4. Assist alumni members with family history research and the organizing of presentations; and
5. Serve as “ambassadors” of the USCTI in outreach to local communities.
The 10 founding members of the AAC will serve as the initial executive committee for the body. It will host its second event at Hartwick College during the weekend of February 26-27, 2016. The AAC came into existence as a consequence of a meeting between Keisha Clarke, Lisa Starkey-Wood (director of Admissions for Hartwick College) and Harry Bradshaw Matthews.
The recommendation that emerged was for graduates to interact more with current students. The USCTI was a proper vehicle to facilitate the latter. Clarke then met with fellow graduate Dr. Roxanne Suarez to conceptualize the AAC. Their backgrounds, expertise, and mutual interests proved valuable to the process.
Keisha M. Clarke is a 2002 Hartwick College alumna, a graduate of Detroit Mercy Law School, motivational speaker, international traveler, and info/entrepreneur who is passionate about motivating people to see the value in their life’s journey. She has 15 years of public speaking and forum organizing experience, as well as significant international teaching experience gained while teaching abroad for two years in South Korea. More recently, she assists justice-involved youth with increasing their job-readiness skills while motivating them to develop a lifestyle of positive thinking and strategic goal setting. Her family received the American Society of Freedmen Descendants Gold Medal in honor of her great-grandfather, Private Wilmot Craigie, aka Alfred Wright, who served with the British West Indies Regiment during World War I. She resides in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Roxanne J. Suarez is a doctor of veterinary medicine with a focus in small animal internal medicine and surgery. She received her DVM in 2008 from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine then did her clinical year at Louisiana State University of Veterinary Medicine (LSU). She is currently the Chief of Staff at Banfield Pet Hospital in Yonkers, NY after relocating from the Frederick, MD Banfield Pet Hospital, where she was veterinary associate from 2009-2010 then became the Chief of Staff from 2010 to the present. Dr. Suarez has been a member of the USCTI since 2001. Her family received the first USCTI Freedmen Descendants Gold Medal honoring her great uncle, a Boriqueneer. She enjoys presenting at her alma maters, Monsignor Scanlan High School for career days and Hartwick College for the USCTI. She resides in Yonkers, New York.
Clarke and Suarez reached out to fellow graduates and were able to attract the immediate commitment to AAC from eight other professionals.
Sonya Williams Howard, a 2008 graduate of Hartwick College, majored in psychology. She also earned a Master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Hofstra University. Her professional background includes the former position of Human Resources Business Partner at Air France. She is currently
the Human Resources Manager at Delta Airlines. She resides in Yonkers, New York.
Darrell M. Howard graduated from Hartwick College in 2010 as a business and economics major. He is currently a Client Services Analyst at New York Life insurance company. He was honored at the Mini-Conference for his family research placing his ancestor, Private Jessie Blocker of WWI, within his family’s historical context of the Freedom Journey that dated back into the 1790s in South Carolina. He resides in Yonkers, New York.
Justin Medina, a 2009 graduate of Hartwick College, majored in business administration. Today, he is a Program Specialist with the New York State Children and Family Services. He is an active participant in scholarly pursuits exploring the historical roots of the Latino and African American heritage within the context of the African diaspora. He furthers his knowledge of the subject through the active collecting of rare books. He resides in the Bronx, New York.
Shamar Yee graduated from Hartwick College in 2008 with a major in sociology. He is employed as a Child Protective Specialist with the New York City Administration for Children’s Services. His position has sensitized him to the wide array of concerns that young people have as they maneuver the complexities of growing up in a rapidly changing society. He resides in New York, New York.
Sean Doyley is a 2011 graduate of Hartwick College with a major in economics. He has a flourishing career as an Account Manager at the New York Blood Center for the Greater New York City area. During the year of his graduation, he authored a comprehensive econometrics paper under strict department guidelines to quantify the effects of racial proportion on the decision to segregate in childcare demand. His dedication to his work becomes obvious when talking with him. He resides in Yonkers, New York.
Melissa Elizabeth Swaby is a 2006 graduate of Hartwick College with a major in political science and philosophy. She earned the academic distinction of Magna Cum Laude, election to the Hartwick College Honor Society and was selected as a John Christopher Hartwick Scholar. She earned her Juris Doctor degree in 2014 from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Today, she is a practicing attorney in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Brigitte Fielder graduated from Hartwick Collegein 2002 with a major in Philosophy. She earned a Master’s degree in Theological and Religious Studies at Drew University, a Master’s degree in English Literature at Syracuse University and her Ph.D. in American Literature at Cornell University. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is widely published as a noted specialist in African American Studies and literature. She resides in Madison, Wisconsin.
Desiree de Freitas graduated from Hartwick College in 2005 with a major in management. She currently serves as a Outpatient Practice Clinical Coordinator for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Her return to Hartwick as a member of the AAC continues her devotion, similar to other AAC members, to the upward mobility of first-generation students.
Tribute Continued from page 3
4 DECEMBER 2015 USCT Civil War Digest USCT Civil War Digest DECEMBER 2015 5
communities in Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois, and Kentucky.
The Saturday afternoon session of the Conference was devoted to personal research at the U.S. Pluralism Center.
Saturday evening featured the official presentation of the ASFD Gold Medals at the awards dinner.
Front L-R: Darrell Howard, Sonya Williams Howard; Back: L-R: Linda Carter, Maria Carter, Annie L. “Mama” Jenkins, Kimberly Jenkins-Snodgrass,
Harry Bradshaw Matthews, and Gloria MatthewsCourtesy: David Lubell, Hartwick College
The soldiers honored this year were
• Private Charles Biggers of the 6th Regiment U.S. Colored Cavalry of the Civil War;
• Private Jessie Blocker of WWI;
• Sergeant Lucius Mitchell of WWII;
• Private Alfred Brizant of WWII;
• Private John Joseph Jenkins of WWII;
• Corporal Eugene Carter of the Korean War.
USCTI ALUMNI ADVISORY COUNCIL LAUNCHED
Beginning in 1993, an experiment was designed at Hartwick College to engage newly enrolled African American and Latino students in local history research. The idea was to take some students to research sites to see if they could identify someone of their ethnic background in early records for Otsego County, New York. Success struck within only a few days. During an outing to the Otsego County Clerk’s Office in nearby Cooperstown, students and Harry Bradshaw Matthews began reviewing deed books and other old documents. The time had arrived to stop for the day, but one student insisted that the search continue for a while. She was hooked! An African American soldier named Anthony Stewart, Co. E, 26th USCT, was located in the GAR’s Soldier’s Discharge Book I for Otsego County, dated 1866. The research finding became the catalyst for the emergence of the Oyaron Hill Research Project.
Fast forward four years to the USCT Symposium of 1997-98, an event showcasing joint research results with the community. It was a time when student researchers joined forces with a few local town historians – Leigh Eckmair, Shirley Houck, and Hugh MacDougall – to share their findings about early African Americans in Otsego and Delaware Counties. Next came the formalizing of research teams by establishing the USCT Institute.
Hartwick students continued as part of the research effort throughout the years that followed up to 2015. Between those years, the students became known as the Harriet Tubman Mentoring Project, a group that the Association of American Historians declared during 2009-10 a national model for the engagement of African American and Latino students in the study of history. Today, some of the early graduates are returning to Hartwick College to serve as mentors to current students.
The USCTI’s Student Mini-Conference was an occasion for the newly organized USCTI Alumni Advisory Council (AAC) to introduce itself to students and friends at the Saturday luncheon. During Saturday’s dinner, the founding members of AAC shared the charge the following organizational mission and aims.
Sean Doyley, Darrell Howard, Sonya Williams Howard, Melissa Swaby, Keisha Clarke, Roxanne Suarez, Justin Medina and Shamar Yee with USCTI Founding President Harry
Bradshaw Matthews and little Amelia Brown. (Absent from picture: Brigitte Fielder and Desiree de Freitas)
Source: USCTI Alumni Advisory Council (L-R)
Mission of the CouncilThe mission of the USCTI Advisory Council is to advance the efforts of the USCTI while instituting programs that encourage mentoring between alumni/alumnae and current students who hold membership in diverse organizations that interact regularly with the USCTI.
Aims of the Council
Aims of the Council are the following:
1. Establishing a model for alumni/alumnae to mentor current students in career aspirations;
2. Establish a financial prize to assist one or more current students with academic pursuits;
3. Make financial donation to Hartwick College to support two diversity events per year;
4. Assist alumni members with family history research and the organizing of presentations; and
5. Serve as “ambassadors” of the USCTI in outreach to local communities.
The 10 founding members of the AAC will serve as the initial executive committee for the body. It will host its second event at Hartwick College during the weekend of February 26-27, 2016. The AAC came into existence as a consequence of a meeting between Keisha Clarke, Lisa Starkey-Wood (director of Admissions for Hartwick College) and Harry Bradshaw Matthews.
The recommendation that emerged was for graduates to interact more with current students. The USCTI was a proper vehicle to facilitate the latter. Clarke then met with fellow graduate Dr. Roxanne Suarez to conceptualize the AAC. Their backgrounds, expertise, and mutual interests proved valuable to the process.
Keisha M. Clarke is a 2002 Hartwick College alumna, a graduate of Detroit Mercy Law School, motivational speaker, international traveler, and info/entrepreneur who is passionate about motivating people to see the value in their life’s journey. She has 15 years of public speaking and forum organizing experience, as well as significant international teaching experience gained while teaching abroad for two years in South Korea. More recently, she assists justice-involved youth with increasing their job-readiness skills while motivating them to develop a lifestyle of positive thinking and strategic goal setting. Her family received the American Society of Freedmen Descendants Gold Medal in honor of her great-grandfather, Private Wilmot Craigie, aka Alfred Wright, who served with the British West Indies Regiment during World War I. She resides in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Roxanne J. Suarez is a doctor of veterinary medicine with a focus in small animal internal medicine and surgery. She received her DVM in 2008 from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine then did her clinical year at Louisiana State University of Veterinary Medicine (LSU). She is currently the Chief of Staff at Banfield Pet Hospital in Yonkers, NY after relocating from the Frederick, MD Banfield Pet Hospital, where she was veterinary associate from 2009-2010 then became the Chief of Staff from 2010 to the present. Dr. Suarez has been a member of the USCTI since 2001. Her family received the first USCTI Freedmen Descendants Gold Medal honoring her great uncle, a Boriqueneer. She enjoys presenting at her alma maters, Monsignor Scanlan High School for career days and Hartwick College for the USCTI. She resides in Yonkers, New York.
Clarke and Suarez reached out to fellow graduates and were able to attract the immediate commitment to AAC from eight other professionals.
Sonya Williams Howard, a 2008 graduate of Hartwick College, majored in psychology. She also earned a Master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Hofstra University. Her professional background includes the former position of Human Resources Business Partner at Air France. She is currently
the Human Resources Manager at Delta Airlines. She resides in Yonkers, New York.
Darrell M. Howard graduated from Hartwick College in 2010 as a business and economics major. He is currently a Client Services Analyst at New York Life insurance company. He was honored at the Mini-Conference for his family research placing his ancestor, Private Jessie Blocker of WWI, within his family’s historical context of the Freedom Journey that dated back into the 1790s in South Carolina. He resides in Yonkers, New York.
Justin Medina, a 2009 graduate of Hartwick College, majored in business administration. Today, he is a Program Specialist with the New York State Children and Family Services. He is an active participant in scholarly pursuits exploring the historical roots of the Latino and African American heritage within the context of the African diaspora. He furthers his knowledge of the subject through the active collecting of rare books. He resides in the Bronx, New York.
Shamar Yee graduated from Hartwick College in 2008 with a major in sociology. He is employed as a Child Protective Specialist with the New York City Administration for Children’s Services. His position has sensitized him to the wide array of concerns that young people have as they maneuver the complexities of growing up in a rapidly changing society. He resides in New York, New York.
Sean Doyley is a 2011 graduate of Hartwick College with a major in economics. He has a flourishing career as an Account Manager at the New York Blood Center for the Greater New York City area. During the year of his graduation, he authored a comprehensive econometrics paper under strict department guidelines to quantify the effects of racial proportion on the decision to segregate in childcare demand. His dedication to his work becomes obvious when talking with him. He resides in Yonkers, New York.
Melissa Elizabeth Swaby is a 2006 graduate of Hartwick College with a major in political science and philosophy. She earned the academic distinction of Magna Cum Laude, election to the Hartwick College Honor Society and was selected as a John Christopher Hartwick Scholar. She earned her Juris Doctor degree in 2014 from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Today, she is a practicing attorney in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Brigitte Fielder graduated from Hartwick Collegein 2002 with a major in Philosophy. She earned a Master’s degree in Theological and Religious Studies at Drew University, a Master’s degree in English Literature at Syracuse University and her Ph.D. in American Literature at Cornell University. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is widely published as a noted specialist in African American Studies and literature. She resides in Madison, Wisconsin.
Desiree de Freitas graduated from Hartwick College in 2005 with a major in management. She currently serves as a Outpatient Practice Clinical Coordinator for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Her return to Hartwick as a member of the AAC continues her devotion, similar to other AAC members, to the upward mobility of first-generation students.
Tribute Continued from page 3
6 DECEMBER 2015 USCT Civil War Digest
PASSING THE TORCH: HONORING USCTI FOUNDING MEMBERS WHO HAVE DIED
When the United States Colored Troops Institute for Local History and Family Research was established at Hartwick College in 1998 its primary focus was upon the 200,000 black soldiers and their 7,000 white officers of the Civil War.
Some Founding Members of the USCTI, Hartwick College, 1998
That humble beginning set in motion a journey to honor African American ancestors and their allies. It did not take long, however, to document that members of the USCT also included men of African descent from throughout the Caribbean and Canada, as well as Native Americans and men from India. In past issues of the USCT Civil War Digest, all of the latter groups have been honored to some degree.
Some founding members of the USCTI, SUNY Oneonta, 1998
Today, through this current issue of the newsletter, it is a privilege to note the contributions of USCTI members who have passed on.
Gerald R. Hunter was a proud Montaukett Indian from Long Island, whose devotion to preserving the historic record of Montaukett and Shinnecock tribes included documenting his ancestry to USCT Charles D. Brewster and Govanier Brewster, respectively of the 20th and 26th USCT that were organized in New York in 1864.
Gerald R. Hunter and USCTI Reenactors
As a founding member of the USCTI, he engaged himself in the work of the organization. A notable event was the commemoration that he organized with the Suffolk County government that honored African American and Native American soldiers of multiple wars.
In November 2011, Mr. Hunter was named a Fellow of the USCTI for documenting the enlistment of Shinnecock, Montaukett and other Indian males of Long Island and Connecticut into USCT Regiments. His efforts helped to identify black and Indian burials at the Negro Burial Ground of Wantagh, Long Island, burial sites belonging to six African Methodist Episcopal Zion Churches, and six other churches that historically had black and Indian members.
Agnes Kane Callum of Baltimore, MD, was long acknowledged by colleagues and scholars as the leading African American genealogist in Maryland. Her scholarship in documenting her lineage in America to the 1600s earned her and her family the right to claim lineage to the earliest builders of this nation.
Agnes Kane Callum standing, at USCTI Meeting
USCT Civil War Digest DECEMBER 2015 3
The conference began Friday evening with a dinner, at which the USCTI’s new Alumni Advisory Council were introduced.
Saturday’s morning session spotlighted presentations of family and historical research conducted by Tubman Mentors and USCTI alumni.
Most participants of the USCTI’s Student Mini-Conference Courtesy: David Lubell, Hartwick College
Family and Historical Research Student Mini-Conference
Participants Name Locale
1. Ajoa Abrokwa Newark, DE ASFD Gold Medal
2. Mark Allen Newark, DE ASFD Gold Medal
3. Imani Anderson Troy, NY HTM, Presenter
4. Tariq Barnes NY, NY USCTI Invited Guest
5. Amelia Brown Raleigh, NC USCTI Invited Guest
6. Elizabeth Brown-Vaughan Brooklyn, NY HTM
7. Stephanie Brunetta Oneonta, NY USCTI Member
8. Maria Carter Glen Allen VA ASFD Gold Medal
9. Rachel Casler Sherburne, NY HTM, Presenter
10. Keisha Clarke Jersey City, NJ USCTI, Presenter
11. Valerie Diaz Bronx, NY HTM, Presenter
12. Sean Doyley Yonkers, NY USCTI Alumnus
13. Tyla Dwarica Brooklyn, NY HTM
14. Scarlett Estevez New York, NYHTM, Presenter
15. Darrell Howard Yonkers, NY ASFD Gold Medal
16. Sonya Howard Yonkers, NY ASFD Gold Medal
17. Elecktra Hoyoun Brooklyn, NY HTM
18. Annie L. Jenkins Gainesville, VA ASFD Gold Medal
19. Kimberly Jenkins-Snodgrass Gainesville, VA ASFD Gold Medal
20. Randolph Johnson Oneonta, NY USCTI Member
21. Safay Johnson Bronx, NY HTM
22. Sarah Klotzbach Buffalo, NY HTM
23. Linda Carter Glen Allen, VA ASFD Gold Medal
24. Angela Brizant Layne Olympia, IL AFD Gold Medal
25. Darnell Layne Olympia, IL ASFD Gold Medal
26. Harry Bradshaw Matthews Davenport, NY USCTI Member
27. Gloria Matthews Covington, GA USCTI Guest
28. Anthony McClam Roosevelt, NY USCTI Guest
29. Brianna Mckenzie Columbus, GA HTM
30. Justin Medina New York, NY USCTI Alumnus
31. Windy Mitchell Philadelphia, PA ASFD Gold Medal
32. Tajera Morgan Albany, NY HTM
33. Edythe Ann Quinn Oneonta, NY USCTI Member
34. Tianna Rivas Bronx, NY HTM
35. Symphany Rochford Brooklyn, NY HTM
36. Roxanne J. Suarez Frederick, MD USCTI Presenter
37. Raina Townsend Roosevelt, NY USCTI Guest
38. Dannie Toussaint Coram, NY HTM, Presenter
39 .Melissa Swaby Raleigh, NC USCTI, Presenter
40. Shamar Yee NY, NY USCTI Member
The presenters at the event were:
Harry Bradshaw Matthews - Opening Session
Keisha Clarke & Roxanne Suarez - How the ASFD Awards Affected Our Families
Melissa Swaby - An Alumna’s Journey: The Value of Historical and Family Research
USCTI Members - Sharing Important Points for Conducting Research
Scarlett Estevez & Harry Bradshaw Matthews - Tribute to Private Samuel Jones
Rachel Casler - Discovering My Upstate New York Roots
Valerie Diaz - The Roots of My Artist Journey
Imani Anderson - In Search of My Bi-Racial Roots
Dannie Toussaint - My Haiti is Calling Me
Harry Bradshaw Matthews - Introducing ASFD Gold Medal Families
Justin Medina – Exploring Latino and African American History in the Context of the African Diaspora
Representatives of the six families receiving the USCTI’s American Society of Freedmen Descendants (ASFD) Gold Medal were introduced. The medals are presented to those who document a military ancestor’s enlistment during one of the conflicts between the Civil War and the Korean War. Each of the families traced their ancestor’s service to sometime during the 1870s or 1880s. Family representatives were honored from
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In September 1856, one of the most significant gatherings by African descendants in Canada occurred at the home of Sister Taylor in Chatham. A host of brilliant darker brethren convened from sister communities such as Buxton, St. Catherine, and others in what was a conference of religious leaders whose resolve resulted in the establishment of the British Methodist Episcopal Church. The new church sprung forth from the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. According to Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne, in his 1891 historic text The History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, an historical record shares that one of the Canadian leader’s justification for establishing the new order was because approximately 40 darker brethren of the Buxton settlement and area had white wives, who would be cut off from membership in the AME Church because they were not African. What was more at work, however, was the coming of age of “African Canadian” leadership, in which those who led the call were all emigrants, born enslaved and free, from the United States. The time had come for African Canadians to control their own infrastructure.
Earl Prince, the elder, standing next to the replica liberty bell that was donated to the Buxton Academy in 1850 by black citizens
of Pittsburgh, PA.Courtesy: The Matthews Collection
It must never be forgotten that the sons and daughters of Africa in the United States and Canada, of the typical branch of the Ethiopian race, fought side by side, as one people, to help bring slavery to an end in the British geopolitical zone of the Caribbean, United States, and Canada.
USCTI STUDENT MINI CONFERENCE HONOR CALIFORNIA SOLDIER BURIED LOCALLY
During the weekend of October 22-23, 2015 Hartwick College hosted 40 participants at this year’s United States Colored Troops Institute for Local History and Family Research (USCTI) Student Mini-Conference. The conference’s highlight was a special tribute given to Samuel Jones, one of only 33 African American soldiers who served with integrated regiments organized in California during the Civil War.
Priv. Samuel Jones’ tombstone Courtesy: Evergreen Hill Cemetery,
Unadilla, NY
“With the 150th anniversary of the Civil War coming to an end, it is instructive to point out that there were men of African descent who served in regiments other than those designated as the United States Colored Troops,” said Harry Bradshaw Matthews, associate dean, director of the office of Intercultural Affairs, founding president of the USCTI. “One such person was Private Samuel Jones, who fought with an integrated regiment from California.”
Jones is buried in Evergreen Hill Cemetery in Unadilla, NY. His tombstone, however, incorrectly identifies him as having been a member of “Co. D, 2nd Col. Cav., N.Y.S.V.” Matthews and Scarlett Estevez from the College’s Harriet Tubman Mentoring Project not only discovered the incorrect listing, but traced the origin of the error.
The tombstone was brought to their attention by Gilbertsville Historian and USCTI member Leigh Eckmair.
Estevez and Matthews honored Jones by presenting their research at the conference, and unveiling a framed certificate of recognition and photo of Jones’ tombstone that will be hung on the USCTI Wall of Honor.
Scarlett Estevez, Harriet Tubman Mentor
Courtesy: The Matthews Collection
Tribute Continued from page 1
2 DECEMBER 2015 USCT Civil War Digest USCT Civil War Digest DECEMBER 2015 7
In a July 27, 2015 article in the Baltimore Sun, Reporter Jacques Kelly, described Ms. Callum as the author of 1) 7th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops, 2) Slave Statistics, 3) Black Marriages of St. Mary’s County 1800-1890; and 4) Black Marriages of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. But, there were even more writings by Ms. Callum that contributed to the documenting of the history of African Americans in her home state. The June 2011 issue of the USCT Civil Digest profiled Ms. Callum as one of 12 Fellows and Senior Fellows elected by the USCTI. It was noted that she was also the author of the 9th Regiment United States Colored Volunteers of Maryland 1863-1866. She had been featured by numerous media, including CBS this Morning, NBC Nightly News, CNN, and the History Channel.
As a tribute to her work, Ms. Callum was honored by St. Mary’s College, which awarded her an honorary doctorate in history in 2008. Ms. Callum was named to the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 2014.
Shirley Althea Houck of Delhi, NY, passed away December 2013. Ms. Houck was instrumental in assisting with the original research that led to the United States Colored Troops Commemorative Symposium of Delaware and Otsego Counties, New York, 1997-98.
Shirley Althea HouckCourtesy: Obituary Notice
One major event of the Symposium was the gravesite salute to African American Civil War soldiers who were interred in Woodland Cemetery. Then, there was the history and genealogy conference held on the campuses of SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College that set the stage for the organizing several months later of the USCTI. From the inception of the organization, Ms. Houck was a devoted member and a devoted researcher for local history and African American history. For her work as Delhi Village Historian, Ms. Houck was honored with mention in Honoring New York’s Forgotten Soldiers: African Americans of the Civil War, by Harry Bradshaw Matthews. She was the recipient of the USCTI’s President’s Award in 2005. She was also honored with the Delaware County Historical Association’s Award of Merit for her research documenting United States Colored Troops.
Pamela L. Matthews was the long-term secretary of the USCTI from 1998 until her death in April, 2014. Similar to other deceased members, she engaged in research alongside her husband. The couple visited Nassau, The Bahamas on several occasions exploring the possible USCT and Underground Railroad links in the Caribbean nation. Returning to the place of her birth was always special, particularly the visits to the straw market.
The December, 2006 issue of the USCT Civil War Digest provided an account of one such trip. USCTI members Pamela and Harry Bradshaw Matthews and History Professor Edythe Ann Quinn journeyed to Nassau as representatives of Hartwick College and the College of the Bahamas co-sponsored academic symposium. Patricia Glinton-Meicholas, the council secretary, COB, and president of the Bahamas Association of Cultural Studies, reciprocated a welcome that she had received at Hartwick just a year earlier. Bahamian presenters revealed evidence of the direct connection of ancestors in the Bahamas with African Americans in South Carolina.
Harry Bradshaw Matthews and Pamela L. Matthews
Ms. Matthews thrilled the gathering with the announcement that the USCTI had documented and acquired a military record for Private George A Watkins of Nassau.
During another trip in December 2008, the couple visited Nassau to document, record, and photograph historic buildings and personalities. The results appeared in the USCT Civil War Digest issue of December 2008. Among the images were 1) St. Bartholomew’s Lodge, 1778, the meeting place of Freemasons, OddFellows, and protest groups; 2) Fox Hill Cemetery, where Ms. Matthews’ ancestors are buried; 3) Bethel Baptist Church with adjoining cemetery where many early Bahamians of the Underground Railroad are buried.
Upon the passing of Ms. Matthews in April 2014, the Bahamas Press issued the headline, “Fox Hill has suffered another lost in one of its finest daughters.”
Harry Bradshaw Matthews, Associate Dean and Director of the Office of Intercultural Affairs at Hartwick College and founding president of the United States Colored Troops Institute, was invited as a featured speaker at the 17th Annual US/Canadian History and Genealogy Conference on September 4, 2015. He received the invitation from Professor Michele A. Johnson of the Harriet Tubman Institute at York University.
Harry Bradshaw Matthews, September, 2015Source: The Matthews Collection
The event was cosponsored by the Buxton National Historic Site as a commemoration to the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War. It was designed to honor the heroics of the approximately 1,000 African Canadians who fought mostly alongside the soldiers of the United States Colored Troops.
Many of the soldiers were formerly enslaved in the United States and/or were freemen who had relocated to Canada in search of a better life. Others were the sons and nephews of the elders who were determined
to support the freedom journey of four million persons enslaved at the time of the Civil War. They journeyed primarily from their homes located within the four organized black settlements in Canada West that were organized by the elders.
The primary organizers for the event were Bryan and Shannon Prince. The former is the noted researcher, author, and great-great-grandson of Private William Hooper of the 14th USCT organized in Tennessee. The latter is the curator of the Buxton National Museum. Together, the couple has continued the preservation of the historic Buxton site that included Earl and Corinne Prince among the early preservationists.
Bryan and Shannon Prince at the Buxton Museum Courtesy: http://www.bryanprince.ca/
Buxton, originally known as the Elgin Settlement, had its start in 1848 as a self- sufficient community of black settlers and escaped slaves. By 1856 it was a flourishing community that was positioned for political awakening.
ALABAMA – James C. Johnson
CALIFORNIA – Tammy Ball Williams
CONNECTICUT - Andrew S. Bowman
FLORIDA - John O. Lindell
GEORGIA - Audrey Quick Battiste
ILLINOIS – Angela Layne, Darnell Layne, Northwestern University Library
INDIANA - Allen County Public Library, Charles Poindexter
KENTUCKY – John Taylor, Jr.
MARYLAND – Yvonne Captain, Charles Hawley, Sylvia Cooke Martin, Ruth V. Mitchell, Harold F. Nelson, Houston D. Wedlock
NEW JERSEY – Keisha M. Clarke
NEW YORK –Abyssinian Baptist Church, AKWAABA: The Heritage Associates, Inc., Rev. Kenneth Baldwin, Sylvia Barker, Fern E. Beavers, George Betts, Regina Betts, Stanton F. Biddle, Stephanie Brunetta, Georgia M. Burnette, Rev. Calvin O. Butts, Desiree de Freitas, Sean Doyley, III, Leigh C. Eckmair,
Lorna R. Elmore, Edward Fisher, Katherine Hawkins, David J. Hodges – CUNY Hunter
College, Darrell Howard, Sonya Williams Howard, Linda M. Jones, Nancy Leftenant-Colón,
Harry Bradshaw Matthews, Justin Medina, MLK Library/Syracuse University, NYPL - Schomburg
Center, NYSHA Research Library, New York State Library/Mary Redmond, Linda K. Patterson, Cyndee
Pattison, Edythe Ann Quinn, Madeline O. Scott,
NEW YORK (continued) Jesse E. Stevens, SUNY Oneonta, Hon. Lucindo Suarez, Roxanne J. Suarez, Spann Watson, Judith Wellman, Norma Williams, Shamar Yee
MICHIGAN – Donald S. Vest
PENNSYLVANIA – Ron Bailey - Gettysburg Black History Museum, Inc., Roland Barksdale-Hall, Charles L. Blockson – Temple University, G. Craig Caba, Darlene Colón, Leon Clarke, Marcus L. Hodge, Ruth Hodge, Betty D. Hurdle, Gail Muhammad, Mary Ann Riley, Windy Mitchell
NORTH CAROLINA – Melissa Swaby
SOUTH CAROLINA – John R. Gourdin
TENNESSEE – Roverta Reliford Russaw
VIRGINIA – Thomas Balch Library, Jerome Bridges, Linda Carter, Maria Carter, Barbara Gannon, Chauncey Herring, Kimberly Jenkins-Snodgrass, Carol Mitchell, Linda S. Murr, Gen. Colin L. Powell [2000], Prince Wm. Public Library, Rev. R. Benard Reaves, Loritta R. Watson
WEST VIRGINIA – Bob O’Connor
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rev. William E. Calbert, Patsy M. Fletcher, Military Road School Preservation Trust
WISCONSIN – Brigitte Fielder, Wisconsin Historical Society
THE BAHAMAS – D. Gail Saunders
STUDENT ASSISTANTS – 2015-16Imani Anderson – USCTI Intern/Harriet Tubman MentorRachel Casler – USCTI Intern/Harriet Tubman Mentor, PALS/SOSU/BUValerie Diaz – USCTI Intern/Harriet Tubman Mentor, PALS/SOSU/BUScarlett Estevez – USCTI/Intern/Harriet Tubman Mentor, PALS/SOSU/BUSafay Johnson – USCTI Intern/Harriet Tubman MentorBrianna Mckenzie – Harriet Tubman Mentor/SOSU/BUTajera Morgan – Harriet Tubman Mentor, PALS/SOSU/BUDannie Toussaint – USCTI Intern/Harriet Tubman Mentor/PALS/SOSU/BU
USCT Institute & ASFD Membership 2015-16~ Join Us.
USCTIU.S. Pluralism CenterHartwick CollegeOneonta, New York 13820
www.hartwick.edu
USCT Civil WarDigest
ISSN: 1947-7384
Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY 13820Vol. 17 No. 2, December 2015 United States Colored Troops Institute for Local History and Family Research
USCT Institute & ASFD OfficersHarry Bradshaw Matthews, President, Senior Fellow, Oneonta, NYDarlene Colón, Vice President, Senior Fellow, Lancaster, PAStanton F. Biddle, President Emeritus New York, NY
USCTI Senior Fellows, EmeritusDavid A. Anderson, Rochester, NY John R. Gourdin, Florence, SCHugh MacDougall, Cooperstown, NY
ASFD Fellows & Senior FellowsRoland Barksdale-Hall, Sharon, PA Charles L. Blockson, Norristown, PARuth E. Hodge, Carlisle, PASylvia Cooke Martin, Columbia, MDD. Gail Saunders, Nassau, BahamasMadeline O. Scott, Amherst, NY
USCTI Alumni Advisory CouncilKeisha M. Clarke, Jersey City, NJDesiree de Freitas, Bronx, NYSean Doyley, Yonkers, NYBrigitte Fielder, Madison, WIDarrell Howard, Yonkers, NYJustin Medina, Bronx, NYSonya Williams Howard, Yonkers, NYRoxanne J. Suarez, Frederick, MDMelissa, Swaby, Raleigh, NCShamar Yee, New York, NY
Executive Director and EditorHarry Bradshaw Matthews
USCT Civil War DigestThis newsletter is published with editing and graphics support of the Office of Communications at Hartwick College. This publication is produced twice a year, spring and fall, for the membership of the USCT Institute and for other select distribution.
Send your comments to:Harry Bradshaw MatthewsAssociate Dean/USCT InstituteU.S. Pluralism Center101 Bresee HallHartwick CollegeOneonta, New York 13820607-431-4428
USCTI Pays Tribute to Canadian Soldiers
Newsletter
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