Maryland: American history essay winners announced

From Pal-Item.com: American history essay winners announced
Three students have been chosen winners in the annual American History Essay Contest sponsored by the National Old Trails chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Students in grades 5, 6, 7 and 8 were eligible for the competition. The National Old Trails chapter oversees the essay contest in the Nettle Creek, Centerville and Western Wayne school districts. Jean Dilley is the chapter's essay chairperson.

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, this year's topic was "Young America Takes a Stand: the War of 1812."

Essayists were to pretend they were alive during the War of 1812 and that they had a friend who has become famous in history because of standing up for America during that exciting but dangerous time.

Mattie Drew Doerstler is the fifth-grade winner. A student at Hagerstown Elementary School, she is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Darren Doerstler.

Julia Allen is the sixth-grade winner. A student at Centerville-Abington Elementary School, she is the daughter of Chris Prows and Crystal Allen.

Cameo Smith is the eighth-grade winner. A student at Hagerstown Junior-Senior High School, she is the daughter of Brad and Candace Smith.

Each essay written by the chapter winners has been forwarded to the state contest. The state winner participates in the national contest.

The three students are scheduled to present their essays at the National Old Trails chapter meeting March 15 at the First United Methodist Church in Hagerstown.

New posting schedule

Starting with the week beginning Feb 27, I will be posting in this blog at least twice a week, but sometimes no more than that. However, rest assured that there will be at least 2 posts a week.

Commentary: Black Soldier in American Revolution Remembered

From BET: Commentary: Black Soldier in American Revolution Remembered
If you’ve taken elementary level history classes, chances are you’ve at least heard of Crispus Attucks, the Black man famous for being the first person killed by British soldiers in the Boston Massacre. Historians are unsure if Attucks — who is sometimes incorrectly called “Christmas” — was a freed man or an escaped slave. Either way, after taking two British bullets in the chest and becoming one of the first casualties of the Revolutionary War, his body was laid in state, and he’s since been heralded as one of the heroes of the American revolution.

Fast-forward nearly 250 years and it seems many Americans have forgotten about the Blacks who fought and died in the Revolutionary War. In all, about 5,000 Black soldiers fought in the war, and many of them died. But the history books and students everywhere seem to have forgotten that fact, with Revolutionary War memorials focusing mostly on people like George Washington and Paul Revere. Thankfully, today, in North Carolina of all places, at least one Black man is being remembered for his service in the war that would eventually yield these United States.

Chaz Moore is a 30-year-old fireman in Raleigh who will this month become North Carolina’s first Black member of the Sons of the American Revolution, a club for direct male descendants of Revolutionary War soldiers. Moore recently discovered that his ancestor, Toby Gilmore, was kidnapped from Africa and sold into slavery at the age of 16. To earn his freedom, Gilmore agreed to fight for American independence.

There’s perhaps no greater reminder that the contribution Blacks made to the Revolutionary War is undervalued than by Moore’s admission that, until he found out about his forebear Gilmore, he wasn’t even sure Blacks fought in the revolution. “Growing up, I wasn’t even certain that African-Americans even fought in the Revolutionary War,’’ Moore told the Boston Globe. “It’s not something that’s talked about. Then to say, well, yeah, they did, and you’re a direct descendant of one was unbelievable, humbling. I had to redefine patriotism for myself.’’

If the only heroes you remember from studying early America are white, then maybe it’s time for you to redefine patriotism, too.

Empress of China becomes first US ship to trade with China

From Oxford University Press: Empress of China becomes first US ship to trade with China This Day in World History
February 22, 1784
Empress of China Becomes First US Ship to Trade with China

Carrying a full load of goods, including 30 tons of ginseng, and finally free of the ice that had choked the harbor for weeks, the Empress of China set out from New York on February 22, 1784 for China. Just months after the British had finally evacuated the city after the Revolutionary War, American merchants were seizing the opportunity afforded by independence to enter the China trade.

The Empress voyage was the brainchild of John Ledyard, who had sailed to the Pacific with British explorer Captain James Cook. He hoped to trade for furs in the Pacific Northwest and carry them to China. He found backers including Philadelphia merchant Robert Morris, financier of the American Revolution. The group found the copper-plated ship that became the Empress under construction in New England. Ledyard backed out when the fur plan fell through, but Morris suggested ginseng as a valuable replacement cargo. The Chinese prized the root as a cure for all manner of ills.

The Empress needed six months to make the 18,000-mile trip to Canton (modern Guangzhou) and four months to trade its cargo for tea and export porcelain. Returning home in five months, reaching New York in May 1785. She was greeted with superlatives. One city newspaper believed the voyage ushered in “a future happy period” in which “burdensome” trade with Europe could be replaced with profitable navigation “to this new world” in the east. The cargo was sold at a 30-percent profit, a substantial return.

Soon dozens of ships each year were plying the seas between the United States and China, helping build fortunes in New York and New England. The desire for speed in this trade gave birth in the 1830s to the magnificent clipper ships that were the fastest sailing ships ever built.

The Pressure of Preserving Our Legacy

From The Root: The Pressure of Preserving Our Legacy
A powder horn carried into battle by the black soldier Prince Simbo during the American Revolution. Harriet Tubman's silk shawl -- a gift from Queen Victoria. A Stearman PT-13D plane used to train Tuskegee Airmen. A photographic portrait of Elizabeth Catlett, the renowned sculptor and printmaker. The black fedora from Michael Jackson's Victory tour. These are but a few of the more than 10,000 artifacts in the National Museum of African American History and Culture's collection.

On Feb. 22, nine years after the Smithsonian Institution museum was established by an act of Congress, a shovel will finally break ground on its five-acre construction site. President Obama is scheduled to deliver remarks, and actress Phylicia Rashad will emcee the ceremony for what will be the only national museum building dedicated exclusively to African-American life, art, history and culture. Years of meticulous work have already gone into collecting the historic treasures that will be housed in the museum, which is scheduled to open in 2015, adjacent to the Washington Monument on the National Mall.

At the helm of that work is Rex M. Ellis, associate director for curatorial affairs. Formerly the vice president of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's historic area in Virginia, Ellis develops and manages all of the museum's curatorial programs as his office collects, preserves and interprets historical objects from across the Diaspora.

The Root caught up with the man of many hats and asked him about some of the most surprising artifacts in the collection, how his staff hunts for historical treasures and why he's "scared to death" about the monumental responsibility he holds at work every day.

The Root: How do you go about deciding which experiences to cover and how to present them?

Rex M. Ellis: The first thing we do is realize that the only thing we can be is comprehensive, rather than encyclopedic. The process must involve a great deal of discussion with scholars, educators, museum professionals and the general public to get some sense of the expectations and what primary stories we should be telling. We also have a scholarly advisory committee that meets with us four times a year, made up of experts in a variety of fields -- history, culture and art.

Within history, for instance, a major focus is on slavery. The prominence of slavery is the unresolved issue in American history, and certainly a huge part of African-American history. Large topics like segregation, civil rights and military history would also be under a historical rubric. With our cultural rubric, we plan to do exhibitions that relate to music, performing arts, sports, business, science and medicine, as well as education. And the visual arts, in a variety of ways, will also be a part of what we show to the public.

TR: What are some of the most surprising artifacts that you've acquired?

RME: One thing that is very important, but we certainly didn't expect, was the acquisition of Emmett Till's casket. After Till's body was exhumed [in 2005 as part of a new investigation into his death], the casket was stored in the Burr Oak Cemetery outside of Chicago. By law, you can't put remains back in the same casket, so the original casket was inappropriately put in an unprotected place that was exposed to the weather, and not being taken care of at all. The family contacted our director and asked that something be done. We were happy to put the casket in our collection and ensure that it was protected and respected in the way that it needed to be.

Another surprising item is Nat Turner's Bible. We didn't expect that to come our way, but it serendipitously did. We authenticated it, conserved it, and it is a gem. We also have Chuck Berry's Cadillac, given to us by Mr. Berry.

TR: Where are the main places you go looking for artifacts for the collection?

RME: What we have tried to do is look to the repositories of families. We talk to African Americans to see if there are artifacts that are in attics, closets and places of storage that are still a part of the African-American community. We have been very blessed to have found a great number of items that way.

There are traditional ways also -- we look at collections from collectors around the country and around the world. But we have been very pleased by the amount of artifacts that we have found in the homes of African-American communities around the country.

TR: With regard to those more "traditional ways" of reaching out to smaller museums that have been collecting black-history treasures for decades, what has that relationship been like? Are any of them territorial about sharing with the big National Museum?

RME: We have tried our best, and I think we've been successful, at reminding ourselves, as well as museums around the country, that we stand on their shoulders. We really stand on the work that they have done and continue to do. We have respected them, and tried to collaborate with as many of them as possible. We have consistently let them know that we really depend on their wisdom, their feedback and their collaboration in order for our museum to be successful.

TR: How do you respond to people who question the need for a museum of African-American history, arguing that it could just be folded into the National Museum of American History?

RME: The necessity for an African-American museum is simply obvious, especially if it is seen as part of understanding America's tortured racial past and understanding what America should be about. We believe that discussing issues of liberty, equality, citizenship and race from a uniquely African-American lens is important and can be instructive to all Americans.

TR: How does it feel to curate the official national museum dedicated to African-American history and culture? Is it a daunting responsibility?

RME: Every day I say to myself and to my staff, "If you are not scared to death at the prospect of creating a museum that tells the story and preserves the legacy of our African-American past, you may be in the wrong place." It is an awesome responsibility that we all take with great humility and with great respect. What we do will live beyond us for generations.

NC's Sons of American Revolution inducts 1st black member, descended from Massachusetts slave

From Chicago Tribune: NC's Sons of American Revolution inducts 1st black member, descended from Massachusetts slave
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution in North Carolina is inducting its first black member, a firefighter who only recently learned his ancestor was freed from slavery after fighting for American independence.

Chaz Moore, 30, is a descendant of Toby Gilmore, the son of a chieftain in coastal West Africa who was kidnapped at 16 and sold into slavery in Massachusetts. He gained his freedom by joining the fight for what would become the United States.

"Growing up, I wasn't even certain that African-Americans even fought in the Revolutionary War," Moore said. "It's not something that's talked about. Then to say, well, yeah, they did, and you're a direct descendant of one was unbelievable, humbling. I had to redefine patriotism for myself."

Moore, who was born in Worcester, Mass., has been a Raleigh firefighter for about five years. On Saturday, he'll become the first black inducted into the North Carolina chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution in a ceremony at the state Museum of History.

His journey to his roots came through a cousin whose research into the family tree took her to the Old Colony Historical Society in Taunton, Mass. The family history took another turn in 2010 with the discovery that a relative named Maud May Sullivan, born in 1881, had been raised not by her mother, but by a stepmother.

Her biological mother, Almira Sullivan, had died in 1883, and she was a descendant of Toby Gilmore, slave and patriot.

So standing there that day in the museum was another Gilmore descendant. And no one was more surprised to learn this than Andrew Boisvert, museum archivist and library manager, who had studied Gilmore for nine years.

Because descendants had moved and last names had changed through marriage, Gilmore's line was thought to have ended in 1921 when a descendant named Caroline J. Gilmore, who had married one of Gilmore's grandsons, died. Gilmore's story is well-known in the area and still taught to children, Boisvert said.

"This is a guy who was born free, raised as a slave and then became a free man afterwards," Boisvert said.

Gilmore, born Shibodee Turry Wurry, was about 16 when he was kidnapped by slave traders in 1757. The slave ship changed course from Virginia to Rhode Island because of a storm, and the traders sold some slaves to pay for repairs.

Capt. John Gilmore of Raynham, Mass., bought Wurry and renamed him Toby Gilmore.

Some historians estimate that about 5,000 blacks fought against the British, although the number could be much higher. Records show Gilmore joined the war three times even though he gained his freedom with his first eight-day enlistment, Boisvert said. He became a successful farmer, built two homes (one of which still stands), fathered eight children and lived to the age of 70.

Moore wonders what would make a slave fight for the country that enslaved him.

"To stand side-by-side with your taskmaster, what was he thinking?" Moore asked. "What was he hoping to gain out of this?"

In 2006, when Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. learned he was the descendant of a Revolutionary War veteran, the executive director of Sons of the American Revolution estimated about 30 of the group's 27,000 members were black. The society doesn't ask for race on its application so no one is really certain how many members are black, said Don Shaw, SAR's current executive director.

Gates and SAR began a project to track black patriots, and the results of that work, titled "Patriots of Color," should go on a website within a few weeks, said Jane Ailes, an independent historical researcher. Ailes, who worked with Gates, said the website will include about 2,000 names verified by color and service, but she has a huge backlog of people to research. The project ran out of money more than a year ago, so additional research is at a standstill, she said.

She and Gates are including all people of color, the descriptions include mulatto, copper, yellow, colored, black, said Ailes, who discovered Gates' had a Revolutionary War veteran in his family tree. Their list includes people who helped the military, such as those who worked in shipyards, and women, who worked in camps and even on vessels.

"When I was in school, nobody talked about it," she said of non-whites who fought in the war. "It was as if it was a white man's war. And it wasn't. The Revolutionary War was the only time until the Korean War that black men served in the same units as white men and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with rifles. ... In revolutionary times, we still had slavery. The whites were afraid of blacks who had guns and knew how to use them. That's what makes the Revolutionary War so interesting and unique."

Joe Dooley of Falls Church, Va., helped organize a conference last year on the subject of black patriots. He says he knows 20 black members and estimates SAR now has as many as 50.

However, historians estimate about 10 percent of militias and George Washington's army were black.

"There's a terrible discrepancy here," Dooley said, noting that some African-Americans may have white ancestors who fought in the war.

The reasons may vary. Genealogical records may be harder to come by for blacks of the era because many were slaves. North Carolina may just now be getting its first member because of how rare it is to find descendants of Revolutionary soldiers that far south, he said.

Mike Taylor, secretary of the Raleigh SAR chapter, said he was especially pleased to be inducting Moore because he has traced ancestors who helped slaves escape through the Underground Railroad.

"It has deep personal meaning for me," he said. "... It's an important step forward, albeit a small step. Big steps hopefully will follow."

Group aims to add soldiers' names to war monument

From The Tennessean: Group aims to add soldiers' names to war monument For the first time since the monument was erected in 1976, the Gideon Carr chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is adding names of 12 Revolutionary War soldiers on the monument to patriots on the old courthouse lawn in Charlotte. The cost: $100 per name. The chapter is working to raise funds to add the names and will host a pancake breakfast for $6 at Applebee's Saturday 7-9 a.m. to raise the funds. The chapter is also seeking descendents of the men whose names will be added. They are: Henry Bibb; Francis Balthrop; Barnabas Bledsoe; Moses Fussell; Henry Grimes; Reuben Gunn; David McAdoo; James Moore; Jordin Richardson; Solomon Rye; William Stone Sr. and Daniel Sullivan. Martha Gerdemen, registrar for the Gideon Carr chapter, says new names generally come up when a relative is applying to join one of the associations. “Actually most of these came from the Christopher Strong Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution,” Gerdeman said. “What happens is when people research their ancestry to join one of the societies, and then it’s under a name that nobody had realized was a Revolutionary soldier before.” The Christopher Strong Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution was formed in Charlotte in 2005. The Gideon Carr chapter has had the names for a few years, said Gerdeman, but had held off because of the cost to carve the names into granite. Gerdeman said she hopes the breakfast is successful as the list is lengthy. As well, the chapter plans a dedication when and if the funds are acquired for the engravings. “We are hoping to find descendents because when we get the names on there we are going to want to have a dedication ceremony, and we would hope to contact as many descendents as possible,” Gerdeman said. Gideon Carr, a Revolutionary War soldier from Virginia who served as a private in Colonel T. Taylor's Virginia Regiment, came to Dickson County around 1810 in his Seventies because he had been given a Revolutionary War land grant in this area. At the time Tennessee was a part of North Carolina. “His son had apparently moved here, so he came here to join him, and they named the chapter after him when it was formed 50 years ago,” Gerdeman said. “We are celebrating our fiftieth anniversary in April. It [the Revolutionary War] was the birth of our country, and people who are interested in genealogy are interested to find out their ancestors did.” Descendents of any of the 12 newly discovered patriots should contact Karen Wery at davekaren83@yahoo.com or Martha Gerdeman at marthagerdeman@att.net or call (615) 446-1760. Breakfast tickets available at the door.