Pennsylvania Looking for Descendants of African American Civil War Soldiers

   Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is known for many things. It is the capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is home to one of the most splendid and historic state capitols. Abraham Lincoln's funeral train stopped there in 1865, bearing the body of the nation's 16th president back to Springfield, Illinois. In 1901William McKinley's funeral train stopped there bearing the president's body back to Washington, DC, accompanied by his successor Theodore Roosevelt. (However, the new president refused to be photographed with the local Pennsylvania politicians, so bad was the national reputation for corruption by the Keystone State's sordid solons back in the day.)

  And this November it will be notable for another historic achievement: a re-enactment of an 1865 celebration march by black Civil War soldiers.

   At the end of the Civil War thousands of victorious blue coats marched through the city of Washington in what was called the Grand Review of the Armies. But none of the more than 180,000 black troops who fought in the war was invited to march.

   So black troops staged their own march in celebration of the end of the war. It took place in Harrisburg in November 1865. Troops representing more than 24 states marched through the streets of the city.

   This November Pennsylvania will commemorate that historic march with a re-enactment in the state capital.  As part of the plan, the state wants to identify descendants of the soldiers who took part in the march. The African-American Historical Society  of South Central Pennsylvania will be holding a workshop in Lancaster to help people identify ancestors who may have fought with the U.S. Colored Troops.

   The Pennsylvania Tourism Office is heading up the event in Harrisburg. For more information on the march, or identifying troops who took place in the original event, contact either organization.

   Should be a great event.

Just thought you might like to know.