Civil War

Stanley O. Williford  |   OW Editor
Mar 17 2011

From slavery to canonization?

Augustus Tolton, a former slave and considered the first African American to become a Roman Catholic priest, is now on the path to becoming the first African American to be canonized, almost 114 years after his death.

He may, at the same time, become the first Civil War-era U.S. saint.

Last Wednesday, during a public gathering in St. James Chapel at Chicago’s Quigley Center, Cardinal Francis E. George, and commission members, took an oath to carry out their duties for the cause of Tolton’s sainthood.

Jan 20 2011

African American Heritage Month

Contest theme: Lest we forget: From the Civil War to Civil Rights.

Please click on the image to enlarge and read all the details of the contest. Or visit www.culturela.org.

Joe Shalmoni  |   OW Guest Contributor
Dec 16 2010

Like the first Black firefighter, he serves the city with distinction

Nov. 19, 2010, marked the 115th year anniversary of the death of Sam Haskins, the city’s first firefighter killed in the line of duty. Haskins’ sacrifice was forgotten for more than a century and not included in the line-of-duty deaths until 2002, when the details of his life resurfaced. 

Haskins was a former slave born in Virginia in Feb. 1846.  In 1880, 15 years after the Civil War, Haskins, then a free man, made the cross-country journey to Los Angeles. He was joined by former slave and good friend George Warner.  

Terri Schichenmeyer  |   OW Contributor
Nov 18 2010

Written and read by Robert M. Poole

He was somebody’s baby once, and treasured.

His mother carried him nine months, anticipating the day she’d meet him; his father secretly hoped for a boy. His arrival was heralded, his childhood happy, his adolescence fleeting. He grew up to be a fine man, loved by family and friends, known for his valor and conviction.

Sep 23 2010

Hiram Rhoades Revels

Hiram Rhoades Revels was elected the first African American senator in the United States in 1870 and served until March 4, 1871. He was born in Fayetteville, NC, in about 1827. His date of birth has not been clearly identified. His parents were free people of mixed African and Croatan Native American descent.

Revels began to manage a barbershop, after his brother, whom he worked under at the barbershop, died in 1841. Three years later, he left the barbershop to obtain an education at Beech Grove Quaker Seminary in Liberty, Ind., and also attended Knox College in Ohio.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”