African American Sites in the Digital Collections

1861-1877: Civil War and Reconstruction

[Frederick Douglass, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing left]. Color lithograph. [between 1870 and 1900]. Prints and Photographs Online Catalog. Library of Congress.

Highlights

Abraham Lincoln's election led to secession and secession to war. When the Union soldiers entered the South, thousands of African Americans fled from their owners to Union camps. Many "contrabands" greatly aided the war effort with their labor.

After Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which was effective on January 1, 1863, black soldiers were officially allowed to participate in the war. Both blacks and whites were outspoken about questions of race, civil rights, and full equality for the newly-freed population during the Civil War era.

The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 freed African Americans in rebel states, and after the Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment emancipated all U.S. slaves wherever they were. As a result, the mass of Southern blacks now faced the difficulty Northern blacks had confronted--that of a free people surrounded by many hostile whites.

• African American Odyssey:
  The Civil War
  
  Reconstruction and Its Aftermath
  
• African American Mosaic:
  Conflict of Abolition and Slavery
  

People, Places and Events

1. Martin Robinson Delany (1812-1885): Abolitionist, author, editor, physician, and Civil War veteran
   Martin Robinson Delany w/Frederick Douglass Entry
   
2. Frederick Douglass (1817-1895): Consultant to President Abraham Lincoln, advocating that former slaves be armed for the North and that the war be made a direct confrontation against slavery.
   Frederick Douglass Papers
   
   Frederick Douglass (An Essay)
   
   Abolitionist, Editor, and Orator
   
3. Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906): Achieved international acclaim as an author, best friend of Orville Wright of the Wright Brothers who together, published a newspaper, The Dayton Tattler
   Paul Laurence Dunbar
   
   Poet, Novelist, Short Story Writer, Dramatist and Lyricist
   
4. Fisk School (1866): Fisk University, incorporated as such on August 22, 1867
   Fisk School/University (Second Entry)
   
   First classes convened on January 9, 1866
   
5. Sojourner Truth(1797-1883): Preacher, abolitionist, and women's rights advocate
   Sojourner Truth (Second Entry)
   
6. Howard University (1866): A seminary and later as a liberal arts college was founded November 20, 1866
   Howard University Founded
   
   First students entered in May 1867
   
7. James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938): Authored the lyrics of "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing"
   James Weldon Johnson (Second Entry)
   
   Author, Lawyer, Politician and Teacher
   
8. Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954): First president of the National Association of Colored Women
   Mary Church Terrell
   
   Civil Rights Activist and Educator