[Archived] The Long, Hard Fight: Blacks & the War of 1812, Free Lecture Monday, November 11, 2013

A Free Veterans Day Lecture hosted by the Alexandria Black History Museum, Monday, November 11, 2013

The Alexandria Black History Museum will host a free lecture on African American involvement in the War of 1812 with historian C.R. Gibbs, on Monday, November 11, 2013, from 11:00 am -12:30 p.m. Due to limited seating reservations are encouraged. Please call 703.746.4356 to make reservations.

The lecture, entitled "The Long, Hard Fight: Blacks & the War of 1812," tells the complex and revealing story of the role of people of African descent on both sides of America's least-known conflict. Far more than just a story of slaves fighting for their liberty, renowned historian C.R. Gibbs expertly chronicles a multifaceted struggle for human justice and equality even after freedom had been won on the battlefield. Discover the strange connection between a verse in our national anthem and a group of blacks fighting for the British. Learn the gripping story of how a group of African American sailors dragged cannon from the Navy Yard to the Battle of Bladensburg. Embroiled in a far-reaching struggle between two great nations, blacks for reasons the same and dissimilar sought to turn a time of danger into an hour of opportunity and advancement.

C.R. Gibbs is the author/coauthor of six books and a frequent national and international lecturer on an array of historical topics. He has appeared several times on the History Channel, French and Belgian television, and wrote, researched and narrated "Sketches in Color," a 13-part companion series to the PBS series, "The Civil War," for WHUT-TV, the Howard University television station. The Smithsonian Institution's Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture, features Gibbs among its scholars at the museum's Online Academy website. In 1989, he founded the African History and Culture Lecture Series whose scholars continue to provide free presentations at libraries, churches, and other locations in the Washington-Baltimore area. In 1997, he led 26 people across Africa. In 2009, the Congressional Black Caucus Veterans Braintrust honored Gibbs for his more than three decades of articles, exhibits and presentations on the military heritage of Africans and African Americans.

The Alexandria Black History Museum is located at 902 Wythe Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, in the Parker-Gray Historic District. The Museum is five blocks from the Braddock Road Metro Station on the Yellow or Blue lines. Street parking is available. For more information, please visit www.alexblackhistory.org .