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Faces of Freedom Exhibit Travels to Manassas

Our traveling exhibit, Faces of Freedom, is coming to Manassas National Military Park. The exhibit will be on display at the Visitor Center from September 2 through November 1, 2024.

Established in 2019, the exhibit first appeared at the Hubbard House Underground Railroad Museum in Ashtabula, Ohio. Covid paused our travels until 2024, when the exhibit moved to the Goodridge Freedom Center and Underground Railroad Museum in York, Pa.

The exhibit features 37 high-quality prints of wartime portraits of Black men who served in the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) and Navy during the Civil War. Each portrait is accompanied by a biographical sketch detailing their wartime experiences. This is a unique opportunity to honor and learn about these brave individuals, some who sacrificed their lives to make a more perfect union and others who went on to become Buffalo Soldiers.

This exhibit is made possible by Military Images. Editor and Publisher Ron Coddington observes, “This is another wonderful opportunity to share portraits and stories, and our history, with visitors to the hallowed grounds of the First and Second Battles of Bull Run.”

The images are from private collectors and public institutions.

These individuals shared images from their collections for inclusion in this exhibit: Jonathan Beasley, David E. Brown, Kevin Canberg, Glen Cangelosi, Ronald S. Coddington, Greg French, Thomas Harris, Ross Kelbaugh, C. Paul Loane, Steve Meadow, Ronn Palm, and Paul Russinoff.

Images from public institutions include the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University; The Lawrence T. Jones III Collection at DeGloyer Library, Southern Methodist University; Gettysburg National Military Park Museum; Kansas State Historical Society; The Liljenquist Family Collection at the Library of Congress; National Archives; West Virginia and Regional History Collection, West Virginia University Libraries; and the Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University.

Interested in bringing Faces of Freedom to your location? Fill out this form.

Traveling Exhibit: Fighting for Freedom

Museum-quality prints of 22 Images of African American Civil War soldiers pictured in a gallery published in last summer’s issue of MI and elsewhere were displayed in our first-ever traveling exhibit. The first stop for this unique group was the last stop for slaves fleeing to freedom along the Underground Railroad to Canada—the Hubbard House in Ashtabula, Ohio. Located along Lake Erie is northeast Ohio, the town marked the opening of the exhibit with a two-day event last weekend. Music, dramatic readings, a visit from Buffalo Soldiers bikers, and of course the portraits, each with a caption that tells the soldier’s story. Many thanks to all the collectors who shared their images for this event. They include Kevin Canberg, Greg French, Chuck Joyce, Paul Loane, Steve Meadow and Paul Russinoff.

Special thanks to Lisa Burroughs, who played a leading role in conceiving and organizing the event, the staff and volunteers of the Hubbard House, and the city of Ashtabula for turning out to see these powerful photographs that are such an important part of our nation’s story.

Read coverage from the Ashtabula Star Beacon.

Images from the exhibit will be on display for the next year.

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