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Under slavery many African-American women had to work as field hands, or in the slave owners’ homes, doing domestic chores and raising the white children. Freedom meant that black women became...
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After the war, the South, and the nation, faced the question of how to make the transition from slave to free labor. Most former slave owners insisted that they should get their land back and maintain...
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Reconstruction 360 is built on a 360 degree video platform that features a reenactment set on a farm in 1865. The reenactment was shot at Freewoods Farm, a living farm museum in the Freewoods...
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Freed blacks in the United States believed the government had a plan to distribute land to them, and that they were entitled to it. General Sherman’s Field Order 15 gave them small plots of farmland...
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Enslaved people did not have full rights to their children, or control over their lives. When freedom came, parents could take an active role in the upbringing of their children, leading to stronger...
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Historian Kate Masur explains the origins of 40 Acres and a Mule, a famous phrase that many have heard but may not fully understand. It originated in the early days of Reconstruction, when General...
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The H.L. Hunley submarine made history during the American Civil War when she became the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in combat. In February 1864, the Hunley, under command of Lieutenant...
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Upon returning home to Columbia, Matthew Perry established the Jenkins and Perry Law Firm, and became the chief legal counsel for the S.C. NAACP, where he began the battle toward the desegregation of...
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In 1975, after a nomination from Senator Strom Thurmond, then President Gerald Ford nominated Matthew Perry to a position on the U.S. Court of Military Appeals. Perry discusses what the Court of...
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Matthew Perry was born in Columbia, South Carolina, on August 3, 1921. Perry grew up in Columbia, and attended South Carolina State University, where he studied business administration. His education...