African American Civil War Conference in Raleigh, NC for the Symposium on the United States Colored Troops Slated For March 23-25

RALEIGH, NC -- “Earning The Right To Citizenship-III” is the third annual symposium bringing together leading experts, scholars, historians, educators, students, storytellers, re-enactors, Civil War history buffs, tourism officials and others to confer and explore African American participation in the Civil War. The conference is free to NC residents due to a special grant from the NC Humanities Council. Individual food events are an additional cost.

Hundreds of experts on the USCT will gather in Raleigh, March 23-25 at the Clarion Hotel for this outstanding learning event. Featured speakers include Dr. Jeffrey Crow, Director of NC Archives and History, NC Appeals Court Judge James Wynn, Dr. Reginald Hilldebrand, UNC-Chapel Hill, Dr. Frank Smith, African American Civil War Memorial, Dr. John Haley, UNC-Wilmington, Dr. David Anderson, Rochester Freedom Trail, Dr. Donald Collins, ECU, Mitch Capel, Master Storyteller, NC Black Storytellers, Female Re-enactors of Distinction, members of USCT re-enactor units from Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Mexico, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and others.

“The conference will explore African American participation in the Civil War from new and different perspectives,” says Malcolm Beech, conference coordinator and Director of the Cultural Heritage Museum in Kinston, NC. Seminar topics include the Underground Railroad, NC Battles, Black Spy Network, Myth of Black Confederates, NC Civil War Trails, USCT history in NC Curriculum, Living History Re-enactments, Marketing African American History and Culture, and more.

The US Colored Troops Living History Association will have a business meeting during the conference “to investigate more involvement of African Americans in historical interpretation of American history,” says Joe Certaine, president, USCTLHA.

The USCT Symposium ’07 is produced by the Cultural Heritage Museum with sponsorship from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, NC Humanities Council, Kinston Convention and Visitors Bureau, New Bern Riverfront Convention Center, Tryon Palace, Freelon Group, Eagle News, including participation from NC Archives and History, NC Museum of History, NC Historic Sites, NC Black Storytellers, James City Historical Society, African American Civil War Memorial and Museum, Military Road School Preservation Trust and the US Colored Troops Living History Association.

The occasion provides an excellent opportunity for the curious to research and capture information on their history and ancestors. “A free Genealogical Workshop, A Seminar on Interpreting African American History” and the opening reception will be held Friday at the Museum of History.

Saturday conference fees are $65 in advance and $75 at the door. Luncheon tickets are $25 and Awards Banquet tickets are $50. For more information, call 877-324-5366/252-522-4660 or view www.uscoloredtroops.org.

“Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pockets, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States.” -- Frederick Douglass

With both free African Americans and runaway slaves joining in the fight, at least 180,000 African Americans, comprising 163 units, served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Their stories and legacy continue...