Edna Green Medford provides a concluding essay that ties together the essays in the book and addresses the larger themes running throughout the text. James Scott Humphreys analyzes the efforts of two twentieth-century historians who wished to debunk the old, racist views of Reconstruction known as the Dunning school of interpretation. Smith explores the roles of African Americans who participated in the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the creation of the Shiloh National Military Park. Horace Nash finds that sports, especially boxing, played a fascinating role in blending black and white relations in the West during the early twentieth century. colored troops demonstrated that blacks escaping slavery were not always welcomed. Ballard delves into how Mississippi slaves and Union soldiers interacted during the Vicksburg campaign. Michot examines issues of race in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, and finds that blacks involved themselves in both armies, curiously clouding issues of slavery and freedom.

Cockrell examines Southern Unionism during the Civil War and wrestles with the difficulty of finding hard evidence due to sparse sources. Cheathem's look at Andrew Jackson Donelson's struggle to keep his plantations operating within the ever-growing debate over slavery in mid-nineteenth century America. Marszalek, demonstrate the many nuances of African Americans' struggle to grasp freedom, respect, assimilation, and basic rights of American citizens. Taken together, these essays, inspired by noted scholar John F.

Of Times and Race contains eight essays on African American history from the Jacksonian era through the early twentieth century.

Vicksburg by Michael B. Ballard