Description: The role that African Americans played in the Gettysburg Campaign has now been largely forgotten. This work seeks to rectify this oversight by bringing to light the many ways that Black Americans took part in the crucial battle at Gettysburg, how they were able to influence th...
Brief description: James M. Paradis is a former licensed battlefield guide at Gettysburg National Military Park and completed masters and doctoral work at Temple University. He has authored two books on African Americans in the Civil War. He teaches history at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania, and is an Upper School Dean at Doane Academy in Burlington, New Jersey, where he has taught history for 25 years.
Review Quotes:
"Paradis, a former licensed battlefield guide at Gettysburg National Military Park and former lecturer and participant in Civil War round tables, addresses the many ways black Americans participated in the Gettysburg campaign, their influence on the military outcome, and the impact of the Civil War on their lives. He examines the active prewar role of Gettysburg citizens, both black and white, by describing characters from the black community in Gettysburg, including farmers, blacksmiths, teachers, veterinarians, preachers, servants, and laborers. Maps, photographs, and illustrations appear throughout. Two appendixes are included: black residents and points of interest in the town of Gettysburg, and a modern tour of Gettysburg and African Americans." --Reference and Research Book News
"From the Foreword: The significance of Gettysburg to all people, with an emphasis on Black America, is masterfully addressed by historian James M. Paradis in African Americans and the Gettysburg Campaign. The story of the borough and county's Black community caught up in an epic struggle makes for narrative history at its best. The book is people- and site-oriented. As such it encourages the ever increasing number of park and area visitors that delight in heritage tourism to view sites associatedwith Gettysburg's African American community. To facilitate the visitor's desire to walk in the steps of history, the author has included a chapter highlighting Black-associated sites ad structures, along with two very useful tour maps..." --Edwin C. Bearss, Chief Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service "From the Foreword: The significance of Gettysburg to all people, with an emphasis on Black America, is masterfully addressed by historian James M. Paradis in African Americans and the Gettysburg Campaign. The story of the borough and county's Black community caught up in an epic struggle makes for narrative history at its best. The book is people- and site-oriented. As such it encourages the ever increasing number of park and area visitors that delight in heritage tourism to view sites associated with Gettysburg's African American community. To facilitate the visitor's desire to walk in the steps of history, the author has included a chapter highlighting Black-associated sites ad structures, along with two very useful tour maps." --Edwin C. Bearss, Chief Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service