Videos

Historians and scholars talked about who is considered “black” in America. This talk was a session of “The Future of the African American Past,” a conference hosted by the Smithsonian Nation…

Ira Berlin talked about his book The Long Emancipation: The Demise of Slavery in the United States. In his book, Professor Berlin argues that the slaves' struggle for freedom was a long and …

Participants talked about the modern context of the Civil War, how it is taught in classrooms, and improvements that could be made to those lessons. They also talked about the war’s ramifica…

Professor Ira Berlin talked about his book The Making of African America: The Four Great Migrations. The interview, part of Book TV’s college series, was recorded in the Katherine Anne Porte…

A panel discussion was held on the history of emancipation in the United States. The panelists talked about the social, moral, and legal forces that President Lincoln considered in his decis…

Historians discussed the experiences of both enslaved and free blacks during the Civil War. After the presentations, which included illustrations, the panelists responded to questions submit…

The first Frederick Douglass Prize for a book on slavery or abolition was shared by Professor Ira Berlin of the University of Maryland and Professor Philip B. Morgan of the College of Willia…

The first Capital Book Festival was hosted by the Fairfax County Public Library Foundation in its tenth anniversary year. On a panel titled The Civil War: Blacks and Whites, Soldiers and Ge…

Professor Berlin discussed his book Generations of Captivity: A History of African-American Slaves, published by Harvard University Press. He traced the history of slavery from its 17th-cent…

Scholars talked about African-Americans, the institution of slavery, and the history of the South and Confederacy. Among the topics they addressed were regional politics in the antebellum er…

Mr. Berlin delivered a speech entitled ‘Slavery in American Life: Present, Past, and Future,’ as part of a Civil War symposium at Ford’s Theatre in Washington.

The ceremony celebrated the best American history books published in 1999. Mr. Rupp awarded prizes to three authors who had published books that explored a facet of American identity. The au…

Telephone lines were open so that audience members could talk to Ira Berlin, an author, about his book "Many Thousands Gone", a history of slavery in the U.S.