Reconstruction Archives

Printed Edition of Our National Report Now Available

This month we released a printed edition of our national report, Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle: How State Standards Fail to Teach the Truth About Reconstruction. Thanks to the generous support of a donor, we can mail copies of the report to teacher educators, state and school district policymakers, and staff at historical societies.

In the News: People’s History Teachers

Check out three stories about teachers who teach outside the textbook and organize to defend the right to teach people’s history.

Feb. 20, 1865: Black Town of Princeville, N. Carolina Founded

Princeville, North Carolina originated as a resettlement community for freed people and became the oldest incorporated city chartered by African Americans in the United States.

The Emancipation Circuit: Black Activism Forging a Culture of Freedom

Book — Non-fiction. By Thulani Davis. 2022. 464 pages.
The author traces how people newly freed from bondage created political organizations and connections that mobilized communities across the South during Reconstruction, building on a long tradition of organizing against all odds.

Teaching Activity by Thulani Davis

Reconstructing the South: What Really Happened

Teaching Activity. By Mimi Eisen and Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. 47 pages.
A follow-up lesson to “Reconstructing the South,” using primary source documents to reveal key outcomes of the Reconstruction era.

The Counter Revolution of 1836: Texas Slavery & Jim Crow and the Roots of American Fascism

Book — Non-fiction. By Gerald Horne. 2022. 632 pages.
A detailed history of counterrevolutionary forces in Texas state history.

Five Black women who served as officers of the Women’s League in Newport, Rhode Island.

Teaching the Reconstruction Revolution: Picturing and Celebrating the First Era of Black Power

Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. 2022. Rethinking Schools.
A lesson that help students understand, imagine, and celebrate the Reconstruction period as the first era of Black power in the United States.

Reconstruction Workshop in Vermont

On Saturday, March 25th, the Zinn Education Project offered a full-day workshop in Brattleboro on teaching Reconstruction.

A landscape painting of historic Sanford, Florida.

Sept. 29, 1877: City of Sanford Incorporated

Originally inhabited by Mayaca Indigenous communities and site of the Seminole Wars in the early-to-mid 1800s, the town of Sanford, Florida was incorporated during Reconstruction.

Eatonville, Florida, road sign entering the city

Aug. 15, 1887: All-Black Town of Eatonville Incorporated

Eatonville, Florida is the oldest Black-incorporated municipality in the United States, incorporated toward the end of the Reconstruction era.

April 5, 1866: Black Grocers Protest Taxes Supporting Confederates

Robert Williams and other Black grocers wrote a letter to the Florida Freedmen’s Bureau calling for an end to high taxes levied against them to support former Confederates.

Jan. 23, 1873: Jonathan C. Gibbs Named Florida Superintendent of Public Instruction

One of the most prominent Black officeholders in Florida during the Reconstruction era, Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs held the positions of Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Four young boys standing on the sidewalk of an empty street.

Barry Farm: Community, Land and Justice in Washington, D.C.

Film. By Sabiyha Prince and Samuel George. 2023. 50 minutes.
This documentary examines the history and impact of redevelopment on African American communities, looking at Barry Farm in Washington D.C. in particular.

Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle: How State Standards Fail to Teach the Truth About Reconstruction

Article. By Ana Rosado, Gideon Cohn-Postar, and Mimi Eisen. 2022. 44 pages.
The report includes assessments of education standards in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, along with findings and recommendations for how to improve instruction on Reconstruction.

Oct. 17, 1868: Abraham Galloway Elected as North Carolina Senator

During his 33 years, Abraham Galloway accomplished more than most. An abolitionist, a freedom fighter, a spy, a politician, Galloway rose to prominence during the Civil War and Reconstruction, leaving a legacy of Black leadership and resistance to white supremacy and white violence.

Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank

Book — Non-fiction. By Justene Hill Edwards. 2024. 336 pages.
Following the Civil War, tens of thousands of the formerly enslaved deposited millions of dollars into the Freedman’s Bank, but their trust was betrayed when the Freedman’s Bank collapsed within the decade.

Young Abolitionists: Children of the Antislavery Movement

Book — Non-fiction. By Michaël Roy. 2024. 264 pages.
Through a reexamination of archival materials including antislavery newspapers, correspondence, and autobiographies, this book centers children’s participation in the campaign to abolish slavery in the United States.

Do You Know Them?: Families Lost and Found After the Civil War

Picture book. By Shana Keller and illustrated by Laura Freeman. 2024. 40 pages.
Helps introduce young readers to the history of African American family members desperately trying to find their children, spouses, siblings, parents, and other loved ones during Reconstruction.

Freedom Was in Sight: A Graphic History of Reconstruction in the Washington, D.C., Region

Book — Non-fiction. By Kate Masur and illustrated by Elizabeth Clarke. 2024. 192 pages.
This graphic history reveals the hopes and betrayals of Reconstruction, a critical period in American history.

New Graphic History of Reconstruction in D.C.

The graphic history Freedom Was in Sight has been shared with educators at the National Museum of African American History and Culture and with students in classrooms.

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