Curator Chats Series: The African American Military Experience with Mary N. Elliot

Summary

In a captivating discussion, Mary N. Elliot, a curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, shares her unique journey into the history of African American military service. Her interest stemmed from her family's history, subsequently leading her to contribute significantly to African American scholarship. The video delves into the regiments formed during pivotal wars, the challenges African American soldiers faced, and their roles in shaping the nation's history. Elliot also touches upon the lesser-known contributions of women and the significance of military service in the fight for equality and civil rights.

Highlights

• Mary N. Elliot's interest in African American history began with her family's strong tradition of recounting family history. 📚
• Interracial regiments were formed even before the U.S. became a nation, encompassing Black, White, and Native American soldiers. 🗡️
• African American soldiers faced significant racism during wars, such as unequal pay and limited opportunities for advancement. 💼
• Women played crucial roles as nurses and laundresses during wars, with figures like Harriet Tubman taking on roles as military spies. 🧺
• Despite significant contributions, African-American soldiers often returned to a segregated and hostile home country. 🚫
• Skills learned in the military were used to defend African-American communities during civil rights movements. ✊
• The maritime network facilitated the spread of news and ideas about freedom movements and military service across regions. ⛵

Key Takeaways

• Mary N. Elliot used her family history as a springboard into African-American history research. 📜
• Interracial regiments existed during the revolutionary period, featuring Black, White, and Native American soldiers. 🤝
• African American soldiers faced racism and unequal treatment, even as they fought for freedom. 🛡️
• Women's contributions during wars included roles as nurses and laundresses, with figures like Harriet Tubman serving as a military spy. 🕵️‍♀️
• The skills acquired through military service were vital in protecting African American communities during race riots. 🏘️
• The maritime network played a crucial role in spreading information and fostering communication during rebellions. 🌊
• Memorial Day's origins are deeply tied to African-American history, with early commemorations honoring fallen soldiers. 🌹

Overview

Mary N. Elliot, a curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, shares her journey into researching African American military history, spurred by her family's deep engagement with its roots. She highlights the formation of interracial regiments during the revolutionary period and the challenges African American soldiers faced, such as racism and unequal treatment. Her story is a testament to how personal history can influence broader academic endeavors.

The video paints a vivid picture of the powerful contributions made by African American soldiers and civilians, including lesser-known figures like Harriet Tubman, Susie King Taylor, and many others. Elliot emphasizes the roles African American women played as military nurses and laundresses, alongside stories of soldiers learning to leverage their military skills to protect their communities during the civil rights era. This highlights a rich tapestry of bravery and involvement beyond direct combat roles.

A dive into the maritime networks showcases their importance in connecting disparate communities and spreading revolutionary ideas globally. The story also touches upon the origins of Memorial Day within African American communities. This remembrance tradition began with honoring fallen soldiers, underscoring the intertwined nature of African American history and broader U.S. history. This narrative unfolds to reveal a complex but resilient spirit, compellingly tied to the continuing struggle for true equality and justice.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 02:30: Introduction and Personal Story Mary Elliott, a curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, introduces herself. She highlights her role in co-curating the "Slavery and Freedom" exhibition with Nancy Burkhoff. The exhibition focuses on the history and impact of American slavery.
• 02:30 - 10:00: African Americans in the Military: Revolutionary War to Civil War The chapter explores the history of African Americans in the military from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War.
• 10:00 - 15:00: Post Civil War: Reconstruction and Military Impact The chapter documents the personal journey of the author who has been designated by their family to carry on the family history post-Civil War. Initially reluctant due to time constraints, the author becomes engrossed in the task after discovering a connection to Booker T. Washington. This leads them to explore rich historical records, including manuscripts from the Library of Congress, deepening their understanding of the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on their family's past.
• 15:00 - 20:00: Military Service in the 20th Century The chapter 'Military Service in the 20th Century' discusses the author's journey from a personal project to a significant African-American history research endeavor. The author speaks about obtaining various consulting contracts for organizations which led to travels across Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Virginia. These travels were focused on answering history research questions. Additionally, the author earned a law degree during this period, which provided further preparation for their work.
• 25:00 - 30:00: Memorial Day Origins and Legacy The chapter discusses the origins and legacy of Memorial Day, focusing on personal experiences and divine guidance in career decisions. It begins with an anecdote about a career opportunity that came unexpectedly. Despite initial hesitation, the speaker was encouraged to apply for a job that proved to be a significant and positive change, described as a 'blessing' influenced by a divine whisper. The narrative seems to connect personal growth and career success with broader themes of Memorial Day, possibly touching on memory, legacy, and gratitude.

Curator Chats Series: The African American Military Experience with Mary N. Elliot Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 i am mary elliott i work at the smithsonian's national museum of african american history and culture and i am the curator of american slavery at the museum i had the pleasure of co-curating the slavery and freedom exhibition with my colleague nancy burkhoff and of course that exhibition covers a
• 00:30 - 01:00 large sweep of history including from mid 15th century all the way through reconstruction wow how did i become interested in the history of slavery you know i have a very different path from other people um and maybe not in some ways because i started doing this because of an interest in my family history i actually you know majored in business in in undergraduate but in undergraduate school at howard but i have a family that has a strong history
• 01:00 - 01:30 of family reunions recounting our family history and and i remember my relatives told me we've designated you as the next person to carry on the family history and i was like i don't have time i'm busy but i kept all the records my my relatives sent me and i just started looking into it and one of the things i came across was our family was good friends with booker t washington and so i went into the manuscript collection at the library of congress and spent months there and it just went from there um tons of history that
• 01:30 - 02:00 i found out that turned from a personal project to a larger african-american history research project and as a result of that i got many contracts doing consulting work for organizations and i traveled to mississippi oklahoma south carolina virginia tracking down this um answers to my history research questions and um in the meantime i had you know earned my law degree and and which prepared me for this
• 02:00 - 02:30 because it allowed me to research analysis and writing and then i was approached to apply for this job and at first i was like i don't know and then someone convinced me to apply and i got the position and i've never looked back and you know there's some things you just kind of have to go with when god whispers in your ear to you know take that step and it was a blessing it was a blessing so african-american
• 02:30 - 03:00 men um and people of african descent before we become this nation during the revolutionary period um but they fought for their freedom during the revolutionary period you see some regiments that are formed that are interracial regiments that's very important to know regiments that included black white and american indian um very powerful to think about that who
• 03:00 - 03:30 are fighting for um fighting for the patriots but then you also have um during the civil war period these u.s color troops these all black regiments um often led by white officers and working alongside white officers and it was not an easy path again as i mentioned there were certain perspectives of people of african descent of african
• 03:30 - 04:00 americans um and it plays out it's really interesting to think about it how it played out in the military during the civil war we talk about um emancipation and the civil war bringing an end to slavery but the idea of again there are people who can think well we don't feel that there should be slavery but we still see you as less than as beneath um white americans and so there these men faced racism and they faced
• 04:00 - 04:30 unequal treatment again using that example of pay in itself you know and then also considering who had the opportunity to become a high-ranking officer so all that's really quite interesting to think about here you are fighting alongside others fighting to change the nation but how to what extent has the nation change drastically in terms of ending slavery but still there's the issue of race of racism in the case of the
• 04:30 - 05:00 civil war you have for example um a major important role of frederick douglass who is you know the premier um voice of freedom for african americans and beyond freedom including equality and justice and so here's this man who escaped slavery who um you know told his story both in the written word and through um you know as a great orator promoting
• 05:00 - 05:30 freedom for african americans and he pushed that um through military service as well as he met with and spoke with abraham lincoln president lincoln pushing for african-american men to be able to fight on the front lines and so we see during the civil war where 1862 you have the emancipation proclamation 1863 it only frees people who were
• 05:30 - 06:00 enslaved um in jurisdictions that had seceded from the union right so if you're in a border state like maryland where they hadn't seceded from the union they still maintained slavery they still um had free people of color in that state but with that emancipation proclamation there's also this notion that if you can get to union army lines you can secure your freedom and so african americans on these plantation sites flee towards the union army lines
• 06:00 - 06:30 confederates say return our property and the um union army very strategically says well property therefore contraband of war so you see what is termed as contraband camps popping up all over throughout the sites where the war is taking place and these are the folks who were pushing to be able to fight on the front lines to fight for their freedom so what is this war to keep the union together turns into this war for freedom as they finally have the opportunity to be out on those front lines
• 06:30 - 07:00 and not just on the front lines they were digging trenches they were doing a lot of different work to fight for their freedom there's an interesting story i should add to that where there were some people who were in the um in the contraband camps i believe there's a case in ohio it's a young man i know who um is currently pursuing his phd but he presented a really interesting case of um folks who were impressed even in the union army so we know that there were people who were impressed to serve
• 07:00 - 07:30 on behalf of the confederates as um body servants to be out in the fields um on the battlefields with their slave holders or enslavers but the notion of people being impressed into the union army is quite interesting um serving to dig trenches and um do other things where they on one hand didn't want to do so i'm really excited to see what his dissertation brings forward he um recounted a specific story that took place in ohio
• 07:30 - 08:00 so you know um one thing i love about our museum is having the opportunity to speak with established scholars but also to watch as new scholarship is coming forward and as as particularly young scholars particularly for me young scholars um african-american scholars who are excited about this history and sharing even more about the stories that we would otherwise not know about working in these contraband camps there were women who served as nurses they served as laundresses and so while we talk about you know
• 08:00 - 08:30 military service your mind instantly goes to being on the front lines but there were people who were on the front lines there were people who were digging trenches and then you have women who are supporting the people who are on the front lines fighting for freedom so it's important to acknowledge those who served as nurse nurses and laundresses and this is during the civil war i'm speaking of also particularly because they're women like harriet tubman who at one point served as a nurse and then was the first woman
• 08:30 - 09:00 to serve as a military spy on behalf of the union army where she ultimately went down to south carolina and helped free 700 um enslaved people down in the south carolina area but then you also have people like susie king taylor and um we talk about like what it was like for these men to serve in the military while there were men who served in the unit union army the truth is there were plenty people who said um slavery shouldn't exist but i still don't see you as my equal
• 09:00 - 09:30 and so there was the issue of african-american men who served in the u.s colored troops who um were not getting paid equal pay as their white counterparts and so some of them refused to take their payment until they could get equal pay but susie king taylor was one of those advocates who pushed for these men to get their equal pay she served as a union army nurse and ultimately when the war ended she opened her own hospital in savannah which is just so amazing and and despite the um
• 09:30 - 10:00 corona virus and our current quarantine situation um what i love is that our visitors can still remain visitors and see the river main fighting exhibition online which is absolutely amazing and so here you have these men who go to war world war one and they return home and there's this idea of um double the the fight for um freedom and democracy abroad and then
• 10:00 - 10:30 having to fight for that at home and so these men return and there's this period of you know they return to being lynched and the danger of just walking through the streets in their uniforms and um again a racist and segregated united states and so you see where there are race riots that occur throughout the nation and these men who have fought um abroad and come home and again that same military skill
• 10:30 - 11:00 they are present and ready to fight back we often talk about people talk about victimization in african americans being victims but these men and women if i can say anything we have to acknowledge there were some people who were like you may try and kill me but you gonna have to die trying and so they use their skills to fight back and they fight back in these
• 11:00 - 11:30 communities where there are these so-called race riots taking place i say so-called because when we think about for example the tulsa race massacre now people refer to this as the massacre not the riot um oftentimes you hear the word riot and it's almost like a reflection on the black people black people rioting but in fact these are incidents that occur oftentimes surrounding someone being accused of raping a young white woman they take a man and and they they lynch them or they intend to lynch them in the case of the
• 11:30 - 12:00 tulsa race massacre a young man was in jail and the white citizens were prepared to pull him out of jail and um ultimately lynch him that was the understanding of the black community so they went to the um to the jailhouse to protect him and so there's all of this that happens but at the heart of this you see these black men who are prepared to protect their communities and use that military skill so they flipped the script you may come for me you may try and lynch me you may disrespect all that i did all my service all that i've done to
• 12:00 - 12:30 protect this nation and lift up democracy but i will be damned if you go and destroy my community and so i i really appreciate it because um it shows the strength of the will of these men and women who were determined by any means necessary um to be able to live free equal and with justice there were the military service
• 12:30 - 13:00 afforded these men the opportunity to um use their military skills to protect their communities so again um and also to gain leadership positions in their communities so if you think of people who served in the military during the revolutionary war who gain their freedom and these men um you know have opportunities to serve as respected leaders in their communities in their free communities but then you have
• 13:00 - 13:30 um also the fact that many of these after many of these wars these men use their skill to protect their communities so when you have reconstruction period you have you'll see the union leagues pop up and the union leagues are in comprised of many men who served in the military during the civil war who use their military skill to enforce their right to vote when you have this period of the reconstruction amendments coming
• 13:30 - 14:00 through 13th amendment ending slavery 14th amendment providing citizenship and due process 15th amendment allowing african-american men to vote there are jurisdictions where men take to the streets drumming in military formation carrying guns marching into the streets calling other african-american men and women out to the streets to enforce their right to vote particularly around that 1876 period when you see this transition um with the government
• 14:00 - 14:30 where there's this 18 um 76 the compromise of the election at that time rutherford b hayes takes over and the federal troops are pulled out of the south and so you see these people using their military skill to march in formation and make a statement to come out drumming like military um let me see with the military formations and calling people out to the streets to enforce their right to vote you see the same thing happened um during the modern civil rights era where you have
• 14:30 - 15:00 this formation of these men the deacons for defense who use their skill from the korean war from world war ii that use their skill to protect their communities and some of them actually were um were used to help protect civil rights leaders as they travel throughout the nation so the deacons for defense are another group that includes many men who gain their experience through military service so very very powerful to think about not
• 15:00 - 15:30 only are you fighting for freedom but you're using this skill set um you know to be able to say i'm making a statement i'm taking a stand and the idea that these are men who came back from wars who fought to change a nation and who fought for freedom and human rights abroad but were treated less than when they were at home well some of the things that come to mind for me is the role of seamen and the impact
• 15:30 - 16:00 of them traveling globally through that maritime network how did news pass from one jurisdiction to another um you know even beyond the nation um about military service about rebellions um and so i think that's really important to think about that maritime network and how news got out about actions going on throughout the world so there are um there's communication
• 16:00 - 16:30 between people in philadelphia and haiti during the time of the haitian revolution i think that's very important to keep in mind and i think our visitors should you know i'm dropping little gems here and there and we only have so much time but i encourage people to um do some research and find out a little bit more so that because there's some great scholars out there who have written about um much of this activity there's one in particular that comes to mind um laurent dubois who's based down at duke university he writes um extensively
• 16:30 - 17:00 about the haitian revolution then there's a gentleman named dr jeffrey kurichi who is a scholar at howard university he writes extensively about rebellions and freedom movements and then also with the revolutionary war um you have a gentleman um dr gerald horn a very um esteemed scholar who writes about the revolutionary warren and people of african descent their involvement in the revolutionary war and i believe he likens it to a a black rebellion
• 17:00 - 17:30 so just really powerful to think about the scholars who inform us and help us shape what we put in our exhibition to get people to think more deeply beyond just black men served in the military what did that mean and why is that important and how did that add to the development of the nation how did that add to black intellectual thought how did that add to how we think about freedom and so to think about you know this history during the month that we
• 17:30 - 18:00 have memorial day and memorial day um is recognized most recently based on scholarship by the renowned scholar david plight written in his book race and reunion who uncovered some dynamic history of african americans who um reinterred the bodies of men who gave their lives during the civil war who were buried behind a grandstand of a race horse track when they had been held as
• 18:00 - 18:30 union army by the confederates as union army prisoners of war and so these african-american men and women dug up these these men's bodies they reinterred them gave them a proper burial they um had a procession of ten thousand people including three thousand school children majority of the audience at that procession were african-american but it included white educators white missionaries right after the civil war 1865
• 18:30 - 19:00 and what they did was they went through the streets all carrying roses it was um it was um um different um mutual aid societies it was different men who had served in the military and they created this burial ground they call um um martyrs of the racetrack is what it's called and so that is really seen as the day that marks the beginning
• 19:00 - 19:30 of memorial day decoration day where they march through and they place flowers on these gray sites and i think that's something to remember at this time as we're reflecting on military service as we're reflecting on people who gave their lives as this is the month of memorial day that we understand more deeply that this is not just a day to have hot dogs and hamburgers and unfortunately we can't see each other up close and hug each other like we would like to but this does give us an opportunity to
• 19:30 - 20:00 really reflect on the importance of the military service and the service of men and women for our freedom and for equality and justice and human rights so that's what i would like to share with our visitors um our digital visitors and one day soon our visitors in person so thank you for giving me this opportunity