In Nicholasville, Kentucky in 1846, black Baptists were granted permission to worship under the supervision of white Baptists. Those worship services have been conducted in the Union Church building since 1846. Today, however, a lot on York Street is deeded to Peter Johnson, a trustee of the black church, on behalf of the congregation. Eventually,…
In the darkness of early morning and under the cover of a midwinter haze in the Southern port city of Charleston, South Carolina, the Confederate Navy makes a surprise attack upon the federal blockade that has shut down commercial activity in the city. Firing upon and ramming unprepared Union vessels, Confederate gunboats Chicora and Palmetto…
In the days and weeks following the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved Africans of the Confederacy experience new hope for freedom. For some, the legal freedom granted them by the United States leads to renewed efforts to escape from their masters or stretch the boundaries of their autonomy while yet enslaved. In Fredericksburg, both…