The sesquicentennial of the American Civil War provides an opportunity to reassess our understanding of the conflict, and the motivations and experiences of the participants. The role of African Americans, enslaved and free, is of particular interest. How did the Underground
Railroad help start the war? Who was responsible for emancipation? What role did African American soldiers play both militarily and politically? Did Freedmen’s Bureau schools after the war make a difference? Join us March 1-2 to discuss these and other topics at “In Search of Freedom: African Americans and the Civil War,” a conference sponsored by the Catoctin Center for Regional Studies at Frederick Community College in Frederick, Maryland.

Keynote speakers and topics include James McPherson, "Black Men in Blue: African American Soldiers in the Civil War," and Barbara Fields, "Was Emancipation a War Crime?" Other presentations include:

Introductory Remarks, Robert Stanton, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Interior, and former Director of the National Park Service

“States’ Rights vs. Human Rights: African Americans and the Path to Emancipation,” Cheryl LaRoche, Lecturer, University of Maryland

“Running from Slavery to the Center of the Action: Slave Refugees and the Union Army,” Chandra Manning, Associate Professor, Department of History, Georgetown University

“Photography and Freedom: Representations of Black Americans in the Era of Emancipation,” Barbara Krauthamer, Associate Professor, History Department, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

“Resurrecting African American Lives in Maryland through Antebellum Era Records,” Chris Haley, Director, Study of the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland, Maryland State Archives

“African Americans and the Civil War in the Crossroads of War: Maryland and the Border in the Civil War Website,” Dean Herrin, Acting Regional Historian, National Park Service

“Crossing Freedom’s Fault Line: How the Underground Railroad and the Mason- Dixon Line Caused the Civil War,” Scott Hancock, Associate Professor of History & Africana Studies, Gettysburg College

“‘They want to send their children to school’: The Freedmen’s Bureau in the Daily Lives of African Americans, 1865-1872,” Edie Wallace, Historian, Paula S. Reed & Associates, Hagerstown, Maryland

For a full schedule and registration information, please see the conference website at: http://insearchoffreedomconference2013.wildapricot.org

Direct questions to Dean Herrin, 301-624-2773, dherrin@frederick.edu, or Barbara Powell, 301-624-2803, bpowell@frederick.edu