Thank you to everyone who attended our 2026 Spring Symposium!
Missed out on the fun? Find information and resources below about our past symposiums including our most recent! Check back later this year about future events.
Past Symposiums
Fourth Annual Spring Symposium - March 20-21, 2026
Securing the Economic Foundations of Citizenship
For millions of African Americans in the postwar South, the transition from enslaved
laborer to citizen was contingent upon more than the ratification of the 14th Amendment
- it was about the right to own their own land, earn wages, build communities, secure
political rights, and economic independence. The veterans of the 1st SC Volunteers
of African Descent / 33rd US Colored Troops and their families in the SC Lowcountry
provide a window to address Beaufort, SC's “Rehearsal for Reconstruction” as well
as their efforts to pursue rights to receive financial assistance from the government
for their service during and after the Civil War.
ISRE's 2026 symposium theme, Securing the Economic Foundations of Citizenship, explored topics such as the struggle for land ownership, the promise and failure of the Freedmans Bank, the financial advantage afforded by USCT pensions, and more.
2026 Symposium Program | List of Speakers | Reading Guide
ISRE's 2026 Spring Symposium was made possible by a grant from the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor and funding from the ACE Mellon Humanities Program. With additional support from the Dick & Sharon Stewart Foundation, the Lincolnville Historical & Preservation Society, the Susie King Taylor Women's Institute and Ecology Center and the Ernest A. Finney, Jr. Cultural Arts Center. We'd also like the thank Beaufort, SC's Rain-N-Bagel and Marshview Community Organiz Farm for additional donations and support. Thank you to all of our sponsors! We truly couldn't do it without you.
Third Annual Spring Symposium - April 25 & 26, 2025
Her Mark: Women's Voices During Reconstruction
Women, in various roles, are key figures in the history of the 1st South Carolina
Volunteers of African Descent (1st SCVAD) / 33rd US Colored Troops, the first regiment
of Black Soldiers deployed in a combat role during the Civil War. The 2025 symposium
celebrated the many women associated with the 1st SCVAD as well as the impact made
by women throughout South Carolina during the Reconstruction Era.
Learn more about the theme, "Her X Mark," and its historical background here.
2025 Symposium Program | List of Speakers | Reading Guide
Download "Documenting Resilience: Women's Voices in US Colored Troop Pension Records" a presentation by ISRE Research Associate Elizabeth Laney.
Download "Antebellum Experiences of the Men & Women of the 1st SCVAD," a presentation by USCB students Grayce Boozer, Aidan De La Torre, Thomas Grygowski and Madeline Jones from Dr. James Shinn's Spring 2025 Hist 492 class.
ISRE's 2025 Spring Symposium was sponsored by a grant from the McCausland Innovation Fund from the University of South Carolina's College of Arts & Sciences. With support from Dick & Sharon Stewart Foundation and the Ernest A. Finney Cultural Arts Center.
Second Annual Spring Symposium - April 19 & 20, 2024
Breathing Democracy into Spaces - 1st SC Volunteers of African Descent
The 1st SC Volunteers of African Descent / 33rd US Colored Troops were formed six
months before President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and were the first Black
regiment formed by the Union Army during the Civil War. The 2024 ISRE Spring Symposium
picked up where the previous symposium left off, continuing the celebration of the
service & legacy of this remarkable regiment.
2024 Symposium Program | List of Speakers | Reading Guide
ISRE's 2024 Spring Symposium was sponsored by a grant from the McCausland Innovation Fund from the University of South Carolina's College of Arts & Sciences with support from the Dick & Sharon Stewart Foundation .
First Annual Spring Symposium - April 7 & 8, 2023
Breathing Democracy into Spaces - 1st SC Volunteers of African Descent
The 1st SC Volunteers of African Descent / 33rd US Colored Troops were formed six
months before President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and were the first Black
regiment formed by the Union Army during the Civil War. The 2023 ISRE Spring Symposium
celebrated the service & legacy of this incredible regiment whose contributions paved
the way for thousands of other Black men to take up arms to secure freedom for themselves,
their families, their communities, and the nation.
2023 Symposium Program | Reading Guide
ISRE's 2023 Spring Symposium was sponsored by a grant from the McCausland Innovation Fund from the University of South Carolina's College of Arts & Sciences with support from the Dick & Sharon Stewart Foundation .