Ep. 85 | GLORY - Black Soldiers Fighting for Freedom in the American Civil War
GLORY (1989), directed by Edward Zwick, featuring Morgan Freeman and Denzell Washington Photo: Sony Pictures
In Episode 85 The Boston Sisters explore the 1989 film GLORY with Frank Smith, founder and executive director of the African American Civil War Memorial Museum. Smith shares the history of the museum, established to honor over 200,000 African American soldiers and sailors of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) who fought for freedom during the American Civil War (1861 - 1865). Frank Smith highlights the challenges faced by these soldiers, including racial discrimination and segregation. Smith also discusses the impact of their service on the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, which granted citizenship, voting rights, and freedom to African Americans. The conversation also touches on the museum's efforts to preserve and honor these soldiers' stories.
REVOLUTION TO RIGHTS: AMERICA AT 250
Episode 84 is part of REVOLUTION TO RIGHTS: AMERICA AT 250, a 10-episode podcast series from Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters® that takes you on a journey through America’s 250-year history of advancing freedom and justice since the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
“The South has always defined the Civil War as a northern invasion....They never wanted to admit that three out of four of these soldiers came off those plantations. They were enslaved on those plantations. And these people joined the Union Army, fighting their way to freedom. And in most cases, by the way, after the war, they go back to those same plantations where they have been enslaved. They go back now as free people.”
Guest: Frank Smith
Frank Smith, founder and Executive Director of the African American Civil War Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. Born in Newnan, Georgia, Smith attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he was a founding member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Smith left Morehouse during his senior year to play a role in the Civil Rights Movement. From 1962 until 1968, he worked with SNCC organizing and registering African American voters in Mississippi and Alabama, and played a leadership role in planning and putting protests and marches into motion in Greenwood, Mississippi, during the Freedom Summer of 1964.
In 1968 Frank Smith moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked as a researcher for a think tank, and dedicated himself to public service by serving on the Advisory Neighborhood Council and the DC Board of Education. After earning his PhD in public planning from Union Institute in Ohio, Frank Smith was elected to Washington DC’s City Council where he served four terms. After leaving the Council in 1998 Frank Smith became chairman of the board and chief executive officer for the organization which worked to establish the African American Civil War Memorial and its accompanying museum, the only national memorial to the United States Colored Troops who fought in the Civil War.
Link to Frank Smith’s complete biography.
Connect with Frank Smith and the African American Civil War Memorial Museum
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GLORY
GLORY official trailer - Sony Pictures
The 1989 film GLORY, the powerful historical war drama directed by Edward Zwick, tells the story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first all-black units established during the Civil War.
GLORY follows Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick), the commanding officer of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, as he trains, leads and fights alongside his troop. Yet in the fight to preserve the Union, racial segregation and discrimination persist in the U.S. military during the Civil War. GLORY also features Denzel Washington in an Academy Award-winning performance as Private Trip, a soldier who escaped to freedom as a youth, Andre Braugher as Colonel Shaw’s childhood friend Cpl Thomas Searles, and Morgan Freeman as Sergeant Major John Rawlins.
GLORY is based on the books, One Gallant Rush: Robert Gould Shaw and His Brave Black Regiment by Peter Berchard, and Lay This Laurel, an essay and album by Lincoln Kirstein on the Saint-Gaudens Memorial on Boston Common honoring black and white men together who served the Union cause with Robert Gould Shaw and died with him on July 18, 1863.
The Massachusetts 54th Infantry Regiment and the Black Freedom Fighters of the American Civil War
The Massachusetts 54th Infantry Regiment, was formed in March 1863 after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The Massachusetts 54th was one of the first all-black units in the United States Colored Troops (USCT) established during the Civil War. The troop was led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, a white officer and son of wealthy Boston abolitionists. Despite facing rampant prejudice and skepticism, the 54th fought valiantly in battles, demonstrating their courage and commitment to freedom and equality.
Their most notable engagement occurred on July 18, 1863, during the assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina, where the regiment faced fierce Confederate resistance. Of the 600 soldiers who charged the fort, nearly 300 were killed, wounded, or missing, including Colonel Shaw, who died leading his men. The assault on Fort Wagner was pivotal for the Massachusetts 54th Regiment as proof of bravery and determination of African American soldiers in combat, effectively challenging prevailing stereotypes about their capabilities. The assault solidified the 54th Regiment's legacy as a symbol of courage and a catalyst for the eventual acceptance of African Americans in the Union Army, influencing the recruitment of additional Black regiments for the remainder of the war.
The Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial in Boston Common is the most widely recognized monument to the Massachusetts 54th Regiment. A plaster version of the memorial is exhibited in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The Massachusetts 54th high-relief bronze memorial in Boston was created and sculpted by Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907). It took nearly 14 years to complete. Initially, the memorial would honor the fallen Robert Gould Shaw, but the artist chose to include the men of the Massachusetts 54th marching alongside Shaw who is depicted on horseback.
“The Spirit of Freedom,” created by Louisville, Kentucky artist Ed Hamilton,is a 9-foot bronze sculpture for the African American Civil War Memorial. The memorial, dedicated in 1998 in Washington, DC and the accompanying museum (established 1999) honor over 209,000 Black soldiers and sailors in the American Civil War. The memorial also honors white officers, Hispanic soldiers, and unsegregated Navy sailors – who fought for the Union during the Civil War.
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