Sac History Happenings: Sac Public Library honors America's unheralded black soldiers

Sac History Happenings

News and developments in Sacramento and California history

February 17, 2011

Sac Public Library honors America's unheralded black soldiers

By Dixie Reid
dreid@sacbee.com

Sacramento Public Library will screen Frank Martin's four-hour documentary "For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots" in two parts - on Feb. 22 and Feb. 24 - at the Valley Hi-North Laguna branch library.

Showtime is 6:30 p.m. both days.

This is an excerpt from the film's website, www.forloveoflibertyeducation.org :

If prevalent and accepted accounts of American History - both scholarly and those portrayed by Hollywood - are to be believed, the face of the United States Armed Services was white.

The truth is over 5,000 Black soldiers fought in the American Revolution. And though most were not recognized as citizens or even free man, more than 200,000 took up arms in the Civil War. Over 380,000 African-Americans served in WW I and more than 2,000,000 defended this country in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Yet most accounts of their valiant actions are absent from history books and contemporary film.

"For Love Of Liberty: The Story Of America's Black Patriots" finally, and for the first time, sets the record straight.

The library presents the documentary in celebration of Black History Month.

Valley Hi-North Laguna Library is at 7400 Imagination Parkway, Sacramento (off Bruceville Road and south of Cosumnes River Boulevard.)

For more information: (916) 264-2920, www.saclibrary.org

Call The Bee's Dixie Reid, (916) 321-1134.

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California and Sacramento have a long, rich, vibrant history. And our region is blessed with an abundance of historical resources maintained by museums, libraries, archives and societies. This blog aims to alert readers to the latest developments in local/state historical education and research.

Send tips concerning upcoming exhibits, tours, lectures and meetings, as well as new books, magazine articles and online collections to the blog's contributors.

The Contributors:

Michael Dolgushkin

Michael Dolgushkin is Manuscript Librarian at the California State Library History Section. He is co-author of San Francisco's California Street Cable Cars and is a frequent contributor to the California State Library Foundation Bulletin. Contact him at mdolgushkin@library.ca.gov.

Amanda Graham is a Certified Archivist working in the Sacramento Room of the Sacramento Public Library. She earned a BS in History from Southern Oregon University and a MS in Information Studies with an emphasis in archives from The University of Texas at Austin. Contact her at agraham@saclibrary.org.

Pete Basofin is Director of Editorial Research at The Sacramento Bee. He previously worked at The St. Petersburg Times and Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune. Contact him at pbasofin@sacbee.com.

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