Events Calendar |
The Mixed Legacy of Minnesota’s Lincoln Republicans During War & Reconstruction
Date: February 22, 2018
Time: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Event Description
The Goodhue County Historical Society and the City of Red Wing Human Rights Commission present this dynamic presentation featuring William Green. Commemorate Black History with an engaging and thought provoking program on the history of race relations in America. Briefly, in the wake of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, the advancement of African Americans stalled and soon began to erode against the resurgence of Southern white supremacy. The tragedy is that it occurred on the watch of Lincoln Republicans. Where did they go? This presentation examines whether Minnesota’s Lincoln Republicans came to be just as complaisant as their national brethren. To discuss this topic, William Green will profile four Minnesotans who were prominent at the time, but not well known today: Morton Wilkinson, United State senator whose tenure straddled the Civil War and Lincolns presidency, Thomas Montgomery, an Irish Protestant immigrant who served in the Colored Regiments, Sarah Burger Stearns, who launched the woman’s suffrage campaign in Minnesota, and D.D. Merrill, who played a critical role in establishing Pilgrim Baptist Church which would become the oldest black congregation in Minnesota. William Green, Associate Professor of History at Augsburg College and vice president of the Minnesota Historical Society, will present this fascinating topic. Bill Green received his B.A. in History of Gustavus Adolphus College, and his M.A., Ph.D with J.D. from the University of Minnesota. He has published articles, op-ed pieces, and book chapters on history, law, and education, and he has published two books on race and civil rights in Minnesota history – A Peculiar Imbalance in Early Minnesota: 1837 – 1869, and Degree of Freedom: The Origins of Civil Rights in Minnesota, 1865 – 1914, which won the Minnesota 2015 Minnesota Book Award-Hognander Prize. He is presently working on a history of Minnesota during the period of the Civil War and Reconstruction, he will present this research at our evening program.
