The career of Octavius Catto ranks among the great stories of the United States in the 1800s. This versatile figure came to prominence during and after the Civil War. This was a time of dramatic change in America. Octavius Catto is a second-generation figure in the struggle of African Americans for equality in the United […]
Category: Civil Rights Movement
David Walker & Walker’s Appeal
David Walker, author of the publication Walker’s Appeal, is one of the greatest civil rights figures in early American history. However, it’s quite likely you’ve never heard of David Walker. Today we explore his story. Walker was a free African American who lived from 1796 to 1830. He was born in North Carolina to a […]
Thaddeus Stevens, the Man Who Should be an Icon
It’s unlikely you know much about Thaddeus Stevens. Unless you enjoyed his portrayal by Tommy Lee Jones in the 2012 movie Lincoln, you may not recognize his name at all. This is unfortunate and deserves to be rectified. Thaddeus Stevens is, in fact, one of the great American statesman of the mid-19th century. Before the […]
The Polk County Race War of 1896 Arkansas
In my recent post on the Springfield Massacre of 1908, I discussed a disturbing fact of American history. The nation suffered from hundreds of attacks/massacres/eliminations of African Americans in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Yet, most people today know nothing about any of them. So, in this post I’ll relate the story of another, […]
The Springfield Massacre of 1908
When you hear mention of Springfield, Illinois, is the Springfield Massacre the first thing to come to mind? Unlikely. If you are like most people, it’s Abraham Lincoln. What probably doesn’t come to mind is the racial massacre that took place there in 1908. The facts of the Springfield Massacre are these. Two African Americans […]
The Brownsville Affair & the 25th Infantry
If you’ve read my book The Buffalo Soldier, (click here to check it out!) you may remember it includes the 25th Infantry Regiment of the US Army. They were stationed at Fort Missoula in Montana in 1896. The 25th was also among the first of the short-lived bicycle regiments in the US Army. The same […]