One of the major criticisms of the Centennial commemoration of the Civil War was its lack of focus on one of the most important contemporary issues of the day, to wit, the struggle over Civil Rights in the late 1950s and 1960s. Yours truly wrote an article on the Michigan commemoration for the Historical Society of Michigan a couple of years ago; a number of excellent works (David Blight's new American Oracle) make such criticism.
Our animating Sesquicentennial document in Michigan, Executive Order 2007-52, requires the commemoration to be "inclusive" and "authentic." We've worked hard on that. Our very first conference, first in the Nation, focused on John Brown, Frederick Douglass, and the fateful meeting in Detroit in March 1859 with leading Black business leaders. We started off by recognizing the great diversity of our Civil War story and will continue to do that. It's purposely reflected in Michigan and the Civil War: A Great and Bloody Sacrifice.
A reenactor group helps educate folks about the 1st Michigan Colored Infantry:
A documentary, Michigan: The Civil War Experience, recently aired on public TV here, produced by iMichigan Productions of whom two major domos are A-A.
Now comes a series of three articles in the minority-owned African-American newspaper Michigan Chronicle. The columns speak out to their readership about the depth of meaning of the Sesqui commemoration to all Michiganders: Download Chronicle1 Download Chronicle2 Download Chronicle3
It seems safe to say that a Centennial shortcoming won't be repeated during the Michigan Civil War Sesquicentennial.
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