In this day and age, newspapers rarely print fiction. Of course, there is the occasional magical story written by a third grade class that appears every once a week in the Arts and Entertainment section of the paper, but for the most part, fictional stories of real substance are not published in newspapers anymore. This was not the case in the 1800's. Appearing in The Valley Star each week was...
Beginning in March of 1866, the period of Reconstruction sought to force change on the rebel states by creating a series of laws designed to control their behaviors. Only in retrospect can it be said that Reconstruction began in 1866, as it was not until March of 1867 that Congress passed the first of the so-called Reconstruction Acts that would truly force change in the South. President Andrew...
At the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865, two million slaves suddenly found themselves emancipated from the system of bondage that they had known their entire lives. The United States was in a unique situation in which it was not quite sure how to handle the differences between its new society with all freed African Americans, and its old slaveholding one. In order to help the refugees of the...
Born to former slaves on July 15, 1867, shortly after the end of the Civil War, Maggie L. Walker would become one of the most influential black females at the turn of the century. From her roots in poverty in the city of Richmond, Walker became the first woman in the United States, black or white, to charter a bank when she opened St. Luke Penny Saving Bank in her hometown: the City of Richmond....
On the night of July 15, 1867, three African American men arrived in Jefferson County, Mississippi, and asked a local policeman where they could remain for the night. The policeman said he would take them to the local jail where they could sleep, and then release them the next morning. Instead, the three men were detained for six days and made to dig post holes around the jail. After they were...
As the Civil war drew to an end, it brought about the dawn of the game that would eventually be referred to as America’s “National Pastime.” According to the Baraboo Daily News, by 1867 baseball was pretty much organized and in full swing in the town of Baraboo, WI with much of the credit owed to the enthusiastic father of the game, George Dodd.
Baseball literally became the heart of...
In July of 1867, African-Americans began their gradual assimilation into the United States in Tennessee. A large number of black Tennesseans joined The Colored League which advocated for civil rights and strongly supported the Republican Party. In Franklin, Tennessee, the League had a strong presence. In early July, African-American members of this group paraded around the outskirts of town where...
Written in 1863 by the white Captain Lindley Miller, the First Arkansas Colored Regiment of the Union army proudly sang the Song of the First Arkansas to become excited for training and battle.According to Miller's notes, the marching song was sung to the tune of John Brown's Body, which is significant because they honored Brown, the well-known man who attempted a widespread slave insurrection...
In the years preceding the Civil War, United States citizens, especially immigrants, moved to areas in the United States that supported their beliefs. Possibly one of the most unnoted, yet influential migrations was that of college professors. Frederick A. P. Barnard, originally educated at Yale to become a teacher, became interested in Mathematics and Astronomy, eventually becoming a professor...
Throughout the American Civil War many children in both the North and South faced adversities. Needing to take on responsibilities that would have otherwise been reserved for adults, many were forced to abandon their childhood and take up roles to aid in the war effort. This included performing clergy work, managing livestock, cooking meals for younger siblings, becoming nurses, sewing fabric...