;

Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

Most famous true slave narrative

Harriet Jacobs was born a slave in North Carolina in 1813. Her mother died when she was six, her father when she was 13. Her mistress/owner taught her to read and write. When the kindly mistress died, Harriet is willed to the woman’s three year old niece, and went to live with a Dr. Norcom […]

African Americans in Pennsylvania

Charles L. Blockson is a Philadelphia-based researcher, writer, and collector of African American memorabilia.  He is a co-founder of the African American Museum in Philadelphia and his personal collection of artifacts became the foundation for the establishment of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University.  He is considered a specialist on the Underground […]

July 2012 Posts

A listing of the July 2012 posts on The Civil War Blog with direct links: Steve Maczuga’s Pennsylvania Civil War Project – An Update Popular Women’s Names from the Civil War (Part 2 of 3) Tragedies in the Life of William H. Hawk Independence Day – July 4, 1862 June 2012 Posts Statistical Record of […]

Stephen Smith – Merchant and Abolitionist

Stephen Smith, an African American merchant and abolitionist, was born in slavery in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, around 1795, to Mary Smith.  The name of his father was never recorded and no evidence has yet been seen of the actual location of his birth, but it can be presumed that it was in or around Harrisburg.  […]

Civil War Exhibit at Millersburg

The first floor of the building at 324 Center Street, Millersburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania, will have a new and updated Civil War exhibit when it opens to the public for the 2012 season in early May.  The building, an old fire house built in 1918, is the headquarters of the Historical Society of Millersburg and […]