Schools

Stockton College Begins Semester Long Celebration of African Americans Fighting in the Civil War

The college is putting an emphasis on the 150th anniversary of African Americans fighting in the Civil War, beginning Tuesday.

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey begins its semester-long celebration of the 150th anniversary of African Americans fighting in the Civil War on Tuesday, Jan. 29, the college announced this week.

African Americans fighting in the Civil War was a direct result of the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. A month-long series focusing on this event begins at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon at the College Campus Theater. 

The event then moves to the Richard E. Bjork Library at 5:45 p.m. for the opening of an exhibit of artifacts from the Boling settlement, titled “Galloway’s Graveyard: Unearthing the History of the Boling Settlement.”

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The Boling Family was an African American family that settled in Port Republic prior to the Civil War. Members of the family served in the war and are buried in Port Republic.

Special guests for the occasion include

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Gary Giberson, mayor of Port Republic; Don Purdy, mayor of Galloway Township; Dr. Sandra Barnes, executive director of Camden County Cultural & Heritage Commission at Camden County College; Dorothy Saatkamp, wife of Stockton College President Herman Saatkamp; Wendel White, distinguished professor of art and chair of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities; Thomas Kinsella, professor of British literature; Beverly Vaughn, professor of music; and elected officials. 

The event is free and open to the public.

A Symposium on African Americans in the Civil War takes place Tuesday, Feb. 5 at the College Campus Theater from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Local African American Civil War re-enactors and the UBSS/NAACP of Stockton College host "Romance on the Battlefield with African Americans in the Civil War" on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2 p.m.-4:30 p.m. at the Stockton Performing Arts Center.

A bus tour to the African American Heritage Museum of southern New Jersey originates from Stockton College on Monday, March 4 and runs from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

"We Remember," a staged reading of post-Civil War letters by and about the Bolings set to popular music of the era, takes place Thursday, March 7 from 6-9 p.m. at the College Campus Theater.

Author Dr. Joseph Bilby will host a lecture on African American soldiers in New Jersey on Thursday, March 19, at the College Campus Theater, 2:30 p.m.

The celebration will conclude on Thursday, April 11 with a lunch reception in the Board of Trustees meeting room, from 1 p.m.-3 p.m.


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