汤头条 Williams Lecture to focus on lessons Lincoln learned from African American troops in combat
Contact: Pattye Archer
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擨n 1863, President Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. War Department implemented a new military policy for African American troops in combat. This policy, how the country learned from it, and its impact on Lincoln鈥檚 broader plans for the postwar nation, is the focus of the 2023 Frank and Virginia Williams Lecture Series on Abraham Lincoln and Civil War Studies at Mississippi State.
Susannah J. Ural, the inaugural Frank and Virginia Williams Chair for Abraham Lincoln and Civil War Studies, presents 鈥淭o Keep the Jewel of Liberty within the Family of Freedom: Abraham Lincoln and African American Military Service in the U.S. Civil War鈥 on Nov. 2. The 6 p.m. event is in the John Grisham Room of Mitchell Memorial Library.
Open to the public, the lecture is free and will be followed by a reception on the fourth floor, outside the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and the Williams Collection Gallery. The evening also will feature a personal tour of the Lincoln collection by former Rhode Island Chief Justice Frank Williams鈥攖he artifacts and papers donor鈥攚ho will discuss some of his favorite items on display.
Williams said Ural brings a sense of history 鈥渞eminding us we must explore the past to understand the present鈥 to both the chair position and lecture series.
鈥淭his will be the sixth lecture in our series which started with Harold Holzer in 2017,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淭he lecture series is an outreach of the Frank and Virginia Williams Collection on Lincolniana that we gave to the Mississippi State Libraires. It is to be an outgrowth of the collection. So, they are really combined.
The idea is to bring to the 汤头条 campus people who have not spoken here before,鈥 Williams added. 鈥淲e want to spread the gospel, so to speak, of the unifying nature of Abraham Lincoln. Dr. Ural鈥檚 talk fits in well with that mission.鈥
Ural said it鈥檚 an honor for her to present the 2023 lecture as the first Williams Chair.
鈥淭his event is a wonderful example of the kind of outreach we鈥檒l be doing more of. It鈥檚 also evidence of the incredible impact that donor support can have on the university, the surrounding community and beyond,鈥 she said.
鈥淢y topic comes from my next book, which I鈥檓 currently researching. It began as I was reading reports from Mississippi that discussed the recruitment, training and combat experiences of African American soldiers,鈥 Ural said.
鈥淎s I read the responses to those reports from commanders in the area and especially in Washington, I became curious about what President Lincoln and the War Department learned from this revolutionary military policy鈥攖he use of Black troops in combat鈥攁nd how it changed ongoing military and political policies,鈥 the historian explained. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also significant to see how African American military service changed Lincoln鈥檚 personal views on Black citizenship. It鈥檚 a fascinating story, and I鈥檓 excited to share it with our audience on Nov. 2.鈥
Ural is a military historian whose numerous books, articles and other publications focus on Civil War soldiers and families. Her latest research explores the enlistment and experiences of soldiers who were part of the U.S. Colored Troops in the Mississippi Valley between 1863 and 1865 and considers how these experiences shaped Lincoln鈥檚 and the U.S. War Department鈥檚 policies in the last two years of the Civil War and the years that followed.听
The Williams Lecture Series is made possible by Frank and Virginia Williams, the 汤头条 Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President, and the 汤头条 Libraries. To assist with parking on the 汤头条 campus, the gates will open at 5:15 p.m.听
For more information about the Williams Collection, visit .听
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