if that's what we are doing. if you cursing i'm cursing. if you're fighting, i'm fighting. this is about ugly black girls in the box to? i got it! i'm just desperately trying to find something to cling to that says i am just as good, or better, or worthy in some wayne. it is not just the fight of healing from the trauma, it is all of the things you have to carry on with the trauma. >> to watch the rest of this program visit book tv dot org, used to search box at the top of the page to look for toronto burke or the title of her book, unbound. welcome to free library of philadelphia., my name is jason freeman i am a producer and editor here at the free library events office. i'm pleased to be here, and excited to introduce today's guest deborah willis. deborah willis is a ph.d., author of opposing view the african -- from 1920 to the president.

and, michelle obama, the first lady of photographs, among other books. university professor and chair of the department of photography and imaging at the tissue school of the arts at new york university. she is the recipient of mcarthur and guggenheim associates. as well as sharing her work all across the country, she has served as a museum consultant, and appeared in an consulted on several media projects. she's here tonight with her latest book, the black civil war soldier a visual history of conflict and citizenship. in it, dr. willis offers a far ranging but intimate photographic essay about black experiences in the u.s. civil war from the conflicts outset all the way to the turn of the century. debra lewis -- in this breathtaking volume, the scholar debra willis

reveals us the fullness of their inhumanity through the photographic record she interprets, through the paper trail they left behind. at once intimate and panoramic, the black civil war soldier is at once a major influence on the history of civil war studies but also -- at a critical hour of american history that belongs to all of us as descendants of their sacrifice. high praise, indeed! let's get right to. it deborah, thank you so much for being here. please take it away. >> thank you, thank you jason. hello everyone! really excited to see everyone here. i see 76 names here. this is a moment in terms of the experience of the free lab rate in philadelphia. i spent many hours of the young girl and student in the city of philadelphia, studying and also exploring the library. it is an honor to be here. this talk focuses on my most

recent project. as mentioned by jason, the black civil war soldier. it is a story examining the public memory of the civil war, through photographs and letters and diary entries. i was fascinated with the stories when i began thinking about the experience of civil war soldiers. as we consider it, i just want to say that this book is a synthesis of a history that is both difficult and necessary. when we consider public monuments on slavery, the civil war, at these times these debates are going on. we also know that a number of people attend civil war reenactments. as many people attend juneteenth collaboration. there is something about looking at images for me that is revealing, and also forces

me to question narratives about black lives and black people. i want to walk through this experience and show you some of the images that transform my experience, why i wanted to create this book. i'm going to introduce the slide show. here the title of this is retellings dory's of photography about the blacks of the war soldier. it is -- a top that focuses on a number of experiences that i wanted to start off with the cover of the book as well as the images posin the p the important aspect of p, and as we think about posing in the photographer studio, the soldiers you will see, many of them are using the backdrop that expresses citizenship.

to me, in reading these images in the 21st century, i say these soldiers in the 19th century, they believe that they were free and they were fighting for the freedom. and that they were citizens. and recognizing that, we see the american flag, and we also see the experience of the artist, the photographer who created these images. because they are also painting a backdrop. so we see the life parts of this story. this is an image that is in the national african american museum of history and culture. and we see the importance of this image, it is a ten type close-up. you will see the u.s. button. you will see this sense of bravery, where the soldier has the gun to his chest. he is sworn to an oath to fight for freedom.

most recently, i was in a conversation with a curator in richmond, and i discovered that the image that i used for the cover of the book was identified by a group of artists, based on this projection project by alex creek and dustin klein. it's a projection of sergeant nimrod burke on the robert e. lee monument in richmond virginia, february 5th, 2021. in terms of reclaiming the monument, here we began to see the importance of this image in the contemporary moment. and these are two artists who have projected images from black -- black lives matter experience, and also the history of the civil war. and this is the image that i found with the help of a

curator at the museum of fine arts. we see sergeant nimrod burke, he was born in 1836 and died in 1914. he is described as the veteran of the american civil war. his great great great grandson was able to identify the image, where he was born. we see the image here of him without the casing, but also the research found that his grave stone, his tombstone is also in ohio. and it says, this is a story of my great great grandfather, nimrod burke. so this story becomes an image that is really important. i was able to identify it after the book was published, but this experience is still alive. and this experience is

important. we know that four years of the civil war we, people were still having a conversation about this experience. >> this is a portrait of frederick douglass. and frederick douglass is one of the most important people from that experience, because he has written and talked about the experience of the war. he also we encouraged black soldiers to join once they were able to. he spoke to abraham lincoln about it. he says, it was the civil war that inspired douglas to write and speak on photography. many americans believed that photographs and pictures greatly contributed to the succession and the war. he wrote, once you let the black man -- let him get an eagle on his button and musket on his shoulder, bullets in his pocket, then there is no power on earth or under earth which can deny

that he has earned the right to citizenship in the united states. so again, this is taken during the war years of the 18 60s. we see this formidable look, this focus that he has. and we can see the expression on his face. he also wrote the text for this, to colored men, the 54th regiment of african descent. to join in the war. this is the type of image for why soldiers joined. this is a photograph of a man who joined in 54. and then, as we think about contemporary artists who are looking for ways to tell the story about this experience, this is carey may weems. carrie may weems, as i consider this image here, she says i look to see what is so terrifying.

she did this in 2006. she is looking at the history of black images and experience, and how black people have been perceived. and she is wearing an antebellum-type address. it is made like a quilt. and she wants to acknowledge and confirm and affirm her beauty if. she created images, looking at women who were enslaved and went to the islands to make images about the experience of enslaved people on plantations in columbia, south carolina. she was photographed by a south carolina photographer. he was hired by louis egg see. this is an experience that she wanted to interrogate through the image.

black people as stereotyped in many ways. they were images -- this is a plantation image of a man who owns his property. we see women and white women, and black women, and black men and women and children in this frame. so we see about 17 people on this plantation. we say the activity, but we also see the two black figures who are in the middle ground. one is holding a hat, and the older girl has a broom. so they are performing the labor of the experience, performing for the photographer. the black man is the driver. and thinking about this image that was recently shared with me, you also see a tree stump. i am curious about that tree stump, is it a reference to the brutality of slavery in terms

of whipping's? looking at the land, these are plantation experiences. these are slave quarters on a plantation. there are also images that we discovered that i found. an important way of telling this story. i was interested in finding a way to create a moment about the soldiers. their sense of commitment to the war, their expression about posing. and then collectors. i met a number of collectors who had photographs, they shared photographs with me. this is a photograph of richard f. ridge in a private collection. and he wrote a letter to his former captain. he said i have the honor to attend here with my kind regards for a future welfare. trusting that in days to come, i may have the means to bring

you pleasant recollections of days past. he was born in virginia, but the important part for me and seeing this letter is that he says, i trust you may or see if you are just reward. because he respected his captain, and they had a really good relationship, he wrote him a letter thanking him over time. there's another point in terms of research that i had the unusual experience with this research. one was going to the national archives. i was looking for ways to look for ways to tell the story. i wanted to -- i researched women who were missing from this experience. and i met a historian who, milling to unlock would, who said he was also doing research

on the period. i had an opportunity to go through the records and i found a letter by susan brewster who had a photograph in the collection. and she wrote to the pensioners when her husband passed. she was trying to obtain his picture. she described him, he was a blacksmith, he was a tailor. this is my only photograph that i have of him. please return it. you can see, it was never returned. and his story is she tried to prove her marriage, where they were married. she mentions the date in 1867. shea described the experience. they had a daughter, he was injured, he lost his sight in one eye. she tried a number of times and was unable to receive his pension.

she never received it and never received the photograph. a photograph of a washer woman. this is a young woman who also is posed. in richmond virginia, we see an american flag pinned to her chest. and the u.s. brass button. i assume that a soldier gave her the u.s. brass button in honor or respect for her role. but again, frederick douglass is writing about the image in photography. the servant girl can now see a likeness of herself because of photography. these are images that, as i mentioned earlier, the soldiers visited studios. they also took their families and children, and their wives to the studio. many of them did not return because of illness or death. but they had the opportunity to keep their family close to their hearts because of the

photographers studio. this is a couple. this is not a letter that the wife wrote to the husband, but i'm using this as an example. again, the photographer is using handicraft in terms of tinting the photograph gold. the letter writer writes that my husband, she received a letter from him and was pleased to receive the letter from him. she talked about the abuse that she received on the plantation at left. she says, tell isaac that his mother would like to see him. she's got clothes for him. she was sorry that the exchange between the mother and other friends within the experience of war, and there is a lot of grief and death. they are looking for him zoom. farewell, my dear husband, from

your wife, margaret. these are the stories that humanize the experience. women are receiving letters and writing letters. this is a -- this is a runaway slave that was created by louis manacled. her name was dolly, and again, another experience of how photography is telling the story about this experience. he ran away from the yard corner and wood took to the streets in augusta, georgia, on the evening of tuesday, the 7th of april 1863. the woman dolly, whose likeness is seen here. she is 30 years of age, light complexion, hesitates one spoken to. she is not a very healthy woman, but rather good looking. she never changed her owner and has been a house servant always. it is thought that she had been

enticed off by some white man, feeling herself a stranger to the city. a charleston family hosted a 50 dollar reward. a lot of money. and the experience of looking at this image, we can begin to imagine the story. he is feeling betrayed that she left, he could have been a union soldier, he could have been, as barbara crown hauer suggests, he could have been her lover. so this is how these letters are circulating, and the experience of the research who. in 1902, she wrote a diary about her experience as a nurse, teacher, and have basically a cook. so she says that i taught a great many of the comrades to read and write when they were off duty. nearly all were anxious to

learn. this is an important point. another crucial point about that experience of soldiers, many of them wanted to write their names when they received pay, as opposed to an ex. they could write their names. she said her husband taught when he was able to, as well. this is a negro regiment, and we see it's in south carolina. this is one of the first black regiments. you can see the man standing around. you see this experience as one of the most important letters or accounts that i have found. it was in a black newspaper and this is not the soldier, garland white, but this is an illustration of a soldier. a woman, when the union army took over richmond, there were a number of black people in the town, sharing with the soldiers

as they entered into the state. into the city. there were a number of soldiers who knew garland white, and there is an older woman who is looking for a soldier by the name of garland white. she beats him and says, what is your name, sir? my name is garland white. what is your mother's name? nancy. where was she born? in hanover county, in this state. where were you sold from? from the city. what was the name of the man who bought you? robert tombs. where did he live? in the state of georgia. where did you meet him? at washington. where did you go then? to canada. where do you live now? in ohio. this is your mother, garland, whom you are now talking to and it has been 20 years of grief about her son. again, why this book is so personal to me is we begin to

see mothers whose sons were sold into slavery, south of where she lived on the plantation. the fact that she followed, she was concerned, she was able to identify him. xin knew that he lived and moved to another state, in georgia. i had also lived in canada, and then ohio. so in terms of the what we have with the internet, tweeting, that circle of information. this is how black people were able to use information through the underground railroad? . this is a photographer studio on a campsite, in a tent. portraits of soldiers from fort hudson. again, man of color the men of color to arms! three years service.

battle and heroism. the question, are freeman less brave than slaves? there is a question of masculinity here. the last opportunity has come. men of color, brothers and fathers, we appeal to you. strike now! they tried to get black soldiers to join, and they join. these are some of the people in south carolina, louisiana. these are images of soldiers. alexander gardeners photograph of abraham lincoln. another image of a servant who posed in a -- soldiers uniform from pottsville, pennsylvania. which is now pottstown. we get to understand the importance of how he felt with his role in the war. he was the first black man

injured in the war. troops from pennsylvania, heading down to washington and then to virginia reaching men to fight. when they entered baltimore, rocks were thrown in he was injured. he posed upon his return. we can see the handkerchief that he kept to wipe the blood off of his head is in the pocket of his shirt. we get to see the sense the performance of the soldier, post war. the experience that he was carrying in his biography through this photograph. there were sailors in soldiers, journalist such as william henry johnson who covered the war. he wanted to join in 1861, black soldiers could not join. he decided to travel with the regiment from connecticut to take notes and write about the

experience. he published his experience. 50,000 brave, union loving man. what could happen with that experience? that is when, also, heritage -- alexander newton from philadelphia, he joins. he also returns and become a member of mother battle baptist church. we see him pose. he says, i was born under the regime of slavery. my child i hope will be borne free. i feel slavery is cursed throughout my bones. i have long earned the opportunity to end this. to play the role of moses on behalf of my people. i imagine that this was the dream of every child born during slavery, to fight for their freedom. in 1861, a number of soldiers

who left for the war left families. they were in orphanages. they left the children in orphanages. some grew up in the orphanage, such as james henry gooding. we know stories about the experience because they knew, and whites would burn the orphanages. here we begin to see the children who had to leave and move to brooklyn as a result of this. a group that were free but a lot of citizens so they were called contraband. we see a pregnant young woman with her arm around an older woman and we see a boy and a woman dressed as a nurse. we see this sense of family and a collective moment not in terms of familiar but the experience

of family. the older woman has a hat and she's holding the hat so we can see that face and imagine they are looking into the camera and believed they had a future and they posed for the photographer. we begin to see the hospital workers including nurses and some of the young people that work there. we know that a number of people died as a result of the war, and because of the diseases that 30,000 died of infections and unsanitary conditions. this is an image that circulated around the world and we know it circulated in scotland.

a man is visiting boston and says he bought a pro lincoln political photograph and is sharing it. he also decided to leave the plantation where he lived in mississippi, louisiana across the line, went into baton rouge. he was photographed by the surgeon you can see the number of scars on his back. you see the image in harper's weekly the photograph when he entered the war and then the photograph of him in the soldier's uniform and unfortunately haven't seen the soldier's uniform. but there's an image of him in the book and when he entered the

camp. images of civil war and the confederate soldiers and form images of the civil war in terms of the confederate soldiers, and the formerly enslaved men who, young man who worked with him. the young confederate soldier was injured, they stayed together during and after the war. images that have, as you can imagine, show families. a woman in mourning. you see her dressed in the morning drafts, morning clothing, standing next to a soldier who could've been her husband who died. the experience of tara hunter. while women experience claims estes and wife or soldier wife, they would not be rightly granted that. we see how women became a part of the war as they wash clothes,

write letters, also maintained families. group two soldiers, images of different moments. this is a score by harriet jacobson and her daughter. they taught at a friend school in alexander, virginia. another school on a plantation in south carolina during the war. harriet tubman's photograph which was recently discovered it is in the collection at the smithsonian. if you want a taste of freedom, keep going! that is in terms of her way of getting people to move north. this is a young photograph of her. a beautiful pose, framing! an experience of her as she imagines her life from that studio. colonel robert shaw, who was killed. in one of the most important battles of the war, with the

54th. he is post here. he wrote letters, diary entries. he was newly married to a young wife when he left. i just use some of the phrases he wrote as he talked about his experience. these are some of the black soldiers that were part of the 54th in this album it is in the collection at the smithsonian. the range of images, a photograph of charles douglas, son of frederick douglass, when he entered the war! and a photograph of his other son, louis douglass when he entered the war. we begin to see the importance of photography, the importance of bravery as they pose. you really get the sense of masculinity, purpose, pose. the purposeful poses -- also love. this is the first time we could see mother love.

a mother explaining and following his story. we see loved through the explanation of lewis and the kids beyoncé, and amelia. she writes to him, he writes to her. i have been into fights but i am on her. i'm about to go to another, i believe, tonight. he says, you know, if i survive i shall write you a long letter. george washington is missing, jacob carter is missing, charles reeves has been wounded. they are all in the hospital. he says, my dear girl, i am away. enough race of the death. he is caring and concerned about her welfare. he's concerned about the war. he is also informing her about the experiences of different people. when we think why i wanted to include these letters, when i was in school we were told black people couldn't read or write. that they didn't have the

desire to read or write or the desire to even think about family. finding the stories that are in the archives, in private collections, they are central to re-framing the experience of black people. here is amelia logan here -- to show her fiancée. charlotte thornton, also leaving philadelphia to teach. at one of the freedom schools in south carolina. she meets colonel shaw. she writes, colonel so i came to take tea with us. afterwards we went to the shelf, which was a spiritual raised house. she says i am perfectly charmed with colonel shaw. he seems to be at every way one of the most colorful persons i've ever met. she describes the experience of --

i have seen him once, i cannot help feeling very affectionate admiration for him. we had a very pleasant talk on the moon the piano. we went to the praise house to see the shout. she was delighted that he love the variance of listening to him. he asked her to make a copy of some of the hands forehand. here is a page from her diary. this is, you know, a sad story. it said henry student, 23 years old from adrian, michigan. he was enlisted april 4th 1863 and he died september 27th 1863. his estate was paid $50. he died because of diseases, the regiment hospital on morris island. we read a lot about the dance, and this experience.

christian fleetwood, when he received his hat, when he receives his orange tabby, the press of bugle above it, the number four, on a uniform coat of jacket and overcome quote. one pair of light blue women trousers. one pair of booties, two pairs of drawers. two pairs of stockings, too sure, it's a knapsack and a canteen, a harbor sack. a case for carrying rations. a cartridge box, so two blankets and one will pan. all of this he is writing what it felt to receive thisis morning, the weather is he also writes later when he's traveling, he woke up in the morning and the weather was fine. it was warm. he wrote about the food. these little to my three books, the experience of soldiers, and

then there were doctors and surgeons. this is a photograph, he was appointed acting assistant surgeon in 1863. he worked in the hospital in washington, d.c.. during the war, he returned to -- he returned from ontario, because he had left. he wanted to receive a medical degree. he went to toronto college for that, and he wrote that he tried to be a part of the war, we are part of this sense of citizenship. and he used his skills to take care of soldiers. another one, john ray pierre, he is a doctor in 1864. in one of his letters, he writes home to one of his uncles. he says that i drew $100 less

war tax. my draft was in favor of acting assistant surgeon. i read the address several times, i like it though. i confess, it is very strange to me. he is loving his new rank. he is loving the thank that he is getting paid. he says that he does not like the u.s. service. however, half a load is better than none. it is better to have one that no military code. i would rather have the mexican green or purple. he writes about his political affiliations. he's aware of the war. he is invited to dinner. he's very proud to attend. another alexander augusta, he left for toronto. in terms of canada, to study. he wrote to president lincoln

and asking to fight and to work. he said he was compelled to leave his native country because of the prejudice. against the color of his skin. and so these are the stories that i am sharing. i am going to flip through some of the images from the book. these are some of the washer women, some of the cabins where some of these people lived. these are two tenants who were also photographed. they are black troops in their camp. here are some of the things they wrote about. them he's a sergeant, very light eyes and hair. light complexion. he uses no tobacco or stimulant. appreciated by his officers. here is james roberts, a

drummer who was a friedman when he entered. now he is hard to manage. he is stubborn and reckless. you can see by his personality, his head is caulk to the side. he is reckless because he is not buttoning his coat. we can see personalities that are developed here. different images from the war, as i mentioned, about marriage. this is a couple, a marriage license. and this is ammonia lewis's bust. she created this bust when she left. we begin to pick out monuments that are developed. she was a prominent citizen of boston, and he was the leader of black troops. and so this bust is one of the important moments of the war. he was honored in many ways.

these are the boys that organized the exhibition, and these are some of the photographs of the medal of honor winners. emancipation day in richmond, and i will end with this here. the soldiers from the 54th, where the unfortunate death of colonel shaw and many other black soldiers. there is a painting on the back with families honoring the dead soldiers. but they are also teaching our children. we get to see art go on the wall here at the turn of the century. and a contemporary artist here, when the white, is looking at the archive. we see how he is using the archive to tell the story. there are images of parades.

carrie may weems photographs the monument in boston. and then william, he created this photograph here, photographing monuments and civil war fights in the area were a number of the soldiers fought the battles. and this is a monument to sergeant barnes in norfolk, virginia. and so i will stop here, and i see there are a few questions. i would like to open up. i am going to read the questions. from karen jennings, do you believe that these photos would be sought to address reparations for black americans and their descendants? possibly. it's important that this history needs to be told.

and it's important that we recognize that black soldiers were a part of this history. peggy, how many of the studio photographers were there? i found three african american studio photographers. and there were other operators who worked with the white photographers. roland parsons, around this time did black people commission memorial photography to have a likeness and keepsake of their dead? yes. do you think many photographs -- this is nicholas phillips -- do you think many photographs of nicholas -- were lost during the jim crow and civil rights era. possibly, but they are discovering them now. the most fascinating part of this, nicholas, is that the photographs have been in the

national archives. so they are there. they are not lost. and i believe that it's a possibility that families who lost a lot during that time, and there are people who destroyed some of the photographs. that's an important point. so there is a correction, thank you karen. pottsville and pottstown are two distinct places and communities. they always have been. thank you. winston noble wrote that photographers of black civil war soldiers were generally black or white. and there was someone approximating the statue of brady or gardner whose work is tucked away in an archive somewhere. was there someone -- there was a black photographer james pressley ball. he had a studio in cincinnati,

ohio. he was known as an activist and an abolitionist. there was a photographer, his studio was often visited by soldiers who were helping blacks escape the war. he was active in some of his photographs. they are in the library of congress, in the ohio historical society. and we begin to see -- and i'm sure we will be able to find collections. there are a number of private collections that have black photographers within their private collections. capito, sorry if i am mispronouncing your last name. any historical insight into the role soldiers and troops played in the civil war, with the use

of photography in the 18 hundreds? her grandson was a civil war soldier. but she also talked about abolition as activism. so her activities and her books are -- there are a number of people who have written about it, and her story is important. tom rails, did you know if plantation owners document their slaves using photographs? yes, and that is the image of dolley by louis manifold. many of them were documented there in the early images that i showed. carrie may weems made one of a dalia and drain. they were photographed on new -- at the request of this louis agassiz, but also that they

were owned by plantation owners. many of them were photographed by photographers, white photographers in the south. it's important also to note that there were days that black people could enter the photographic studios during that time period. and whites could enter another days, other times. in mississippi, i read that a photographer was photographing enslaved people who had an opportunity to pay for their own photographs. the whites in town of mississippi chased the white photographer, who was an itinerant photographer who moved from place to place, they chased him out of town. and mrs. penny scott sadly, sorry if you already discussed this but i'm struck by the formal pros of the soldiers who we were taught were illiterate. are we to take away that the letters were written in the

hand of the soldiers? or did others write them for them? how do you explain the formal language? >> some of the soldiers were educated and went to school, as i mentioned. the four soldiers who were sergeants. frederick douglass's sons were also educated. they lived in the north. and others were educated through -- because it was illegal to teach enslaved people how to read and write, so others who escaped slavery were able to study. and the ones who were enslaved were able to -- when they joined the war, they were able to learn to read and write with the help of white teachers, black teachers such as laura and others during that time period. so it's important to note that

also, there were describes. people who wrote for them. so i included both letters that were written by scribe's, but also letters that were written by the soldiers themselves. mason freeman, or freeman, can you talk about the process by which you came to -- i am interested in how you searched museums and newspapers, historical society records, archives. where other photographs produced from other sources such as individual family collections? >> i started this research possibly about 15 years ago. but i could say longer, because i worked at the schomburg center for research into black culture. i noticed there were civil war soldiers in the collections there. they had photographs, and i was intrigued by the missing story

that i missed in terms of never being told that these soldiers existed. and i wanted to learn more, and i started reading books and newspapers. finding newspapers that were written during that time period. many of them were by abolitionists, white abolitionists who were actively looking to find a solution to the war, or trying to understand, to make a difference. and i went to historical societies in boston and d.c., and in philadelphia. and of course, new york. i visited often when i travel to other places like ohio, and also in florida. and georgia. i'm just thinking about all the places i traveled, and north carolina.

there are a number of collections that are online, so i had the experience to have that opportunity to look at collections online, download the letters. the most important part to me was to have the opportunity to meet contemporary artists. like louis williams and carrie may weems and brenda white, who are also looking at them and doing images and research. and other historians told me stories. we shared moments throughout the experience. >> this is jackie earl, jacqueline earl. who are some of the photographers in the photographs? i mentioned that, and please feel free to buy the book. lauren michaels, 150 years from now, how do you imagine our progenitors will look back at the photography of the racial

justice movement of today? >> i think they will be just like me. they would look at those images and questioned, what happened? there will be a parliament, they will be retreat. they will also have the experience of seeing how activism has transformed their understanding of humanity. this is exactly what i experienced. was color in the original photographs are where they retouched? >> they were re-touched. sarah, it would be really interesting to hear a bit about how you conducted your research and found these images. >> i just mentioned that. can you talk about the gorgeous framing of the -- around many of the photographs? >> there were a number of framers, who are artists in painters, craftsman. would workers who were interested in making frames.

for miniature paintings and also for the curio types, ten types. they were developed and to embellished by craftsman. it cost extra, of course, to have these placed in the framing of these -- summer gold, metal different types of metal. summer would. these were the frames. can you explain what is in the guggenheim or mcarthur? >> they are a words that i received. >> did matthew grady take photographs of black soldiers? >> yes. were some of the african american soldiers paid to stand in for white men who did not want to serve? >> in the south, they were not paid. many confederate -- there were confederate black

soldiers who were forced to fight for the sons of the plantation owners who did not want to join the war. they were not paid, because they were enslaved. beverley ingraham, are you aware of other black civil war regiments other than the 59th? >> yes, in the book, there are a number of others that are mentioned. there are ranges of stories about their experiences. the excitement that they had in leaving their states, or cities, to go places like philadelphia, that had a training school for soldiers. there were a number of experiences but i take personally because i am from philadelphia. to see the activism of the

abolitionist movement in philadelphia is crucial to my research. that is why i did a lot of research in philadelphia. yes, there are the names of some of the troops in the philadelphia area. recently on book tv author interview program, afterwards. i'm minister of australia kevin rand shared his thoughts on how the u.s. and china can so exist and avoid war in the future. >> political leaders have agency, they have the ability to make decisions which actually change the course of history. if it weren't for mae or nixon.

it wasn't for kissinger, guess what? the last 50 years would've been radically different! if it wasn't for reagan, it wasn't for gorbachev, what would've happened in terms of u.s. russia relations or the soviet relations back then? political leaders have agency. the book seems to do is if you think that we are just on railroad tracks determined by some big alien force, that we cannot do anything about this is what the crisis conference in war can look like in the political terms here is a framework which is not just for the united states but i would argue a joint strategic framework between china and the united states in the leadership between those both countries that recognizes the absolute

complexity of strategic competition rather than being unmanned in strategic competition that there are strategic guardrails which i call managed strategic competition that is what the book seeks to elaborate >> afterwards a weekly nonfiction program entering authors of on their most recent work. to read these visit both tv.org. welcome everyone, my name is crystal lake i am a professor here at right state. it is my pleasure to introduce professor paul locker today before i tell you a little bit more about paul i want to wright thank professor sharma and the department of english for hosting this event. be sure to stuff by the friends of the library table today, as well. [laughs] i likewise want to