Jeff Kannel discusses Make Way for Liberty: Wisconsin African Americans in the Civil War

Milwaukee Public Library - Zablocki Branch (3501 West Oklahoma Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53221)
@ 12:30 pm
https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Event/EV9745

The Wisconsin Historical Society Speakers Bureau offers an exciting opportunity for our historians, curators and authors to visit your community and share the stories of our great state.

Published in November 2020, Make Way for Liberty is based on a decade of research. It documents the stories of nearly 700 African-American men who served with the Union Army and Navy, representing Wisconsin in the Civil War. The book received the 2021 Book of Merit Award from the Wisconsin Historical Society Board of Curators. The book tells how these men came to the state, how they joined the Union Army, and what their military experiences were in the fight to restore the Union and to end enslavement. In the post-war years, they encountered a mix of acceptance and respect for their military service, but frequent rejection and discrimination because of their race.

Jeff Kannel is a retired physical therapist and educator. He was a tour guide at the Civil War Museum in Kenosha from 2011–2018. He has spoken about African-American Civil War soldiers in more than two dozen towns around the state.

Jeff Kannel.          Make Way for Liberty