National Museum of American History
Fighting for Freedom
February 1, 1983 – May 31, 1983
Read letters written by black soldiers during the Civil War to the War Department and to their families and friends at home. Some of these letters are reproduced in a book by Ira Berlin (on view and for sale). Also on view is a flag from a Louisiana black military company, a training manual prepared for "colored soldiers," two Currier and Ives prints, photographs, and two medals given to black soldiers.
The letters are on loan from the National Archives.
Related book: Freedom—A Documentation of Emancipation 1861-67, Series II: The Black Military Experience
