4th Annual Spring Symposium
Securing the Economic Foundations of Citizenship
This year's Spring Symposium will be held on March 20 - 21, 2026 at USC Beaufort's Center for the Arts in Beaufort, SC.
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, will explore 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.
Highlights
- Opening reception with student poster session & special performance by local youth.
- Special presentation by Company I, 54th Masschusetts, a US Colored Troop reenactment group from Charleston, SC.
- Guest speakers galore including Michael Allen, retired NPS; Pernessa Seele with the Lincolnville Historical & Presevation Society; and Dr. Robert Adams, Penn Center, as well as Chris Barr and Eric Ellis with the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park.
- Midday breakout sessions where attendees can engage in discussions with local experts or learn new practical skills. Break out sessions will be lead by Belinda & Tony Jones of Morning Glory Homestead (legacies of local landownership), Grace Cordial of the Beaufort District Collection (accessing local Reconstruction Era records), and Elizabeth Laney with the Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era (USCT pension records).
The symposium will be held at USC Beaufort's Center for the Arts at 805 Carteret Street in Beaufort, SC. If you're coming from out of town there are many hotels available within a mile or so of the event, many of them located off of Boundary Street.
Preliminary Schedule
Friday, March 20, 2026 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Opening Reception
USC Beaufort Center for the Arts (805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC)
Featuring a student poster session and special performance by local youth. Engage with our local partners and enjoy light refreshments.
Saturday, March 21, 2026 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
USC Beaufort Center for the Arts (805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC)
Enjoy a full day of presentations, as well as our midday breakout sessions and a special performance by a US Colored Troops reenactment group.
Featured Speakers & Breakout Session Presenters
Michael Allen
Community Partner Specialist - Tastee Treats Enterprises
Michael Allen has been a community activist for most of his professional life. He has a deep-seeded interest in our nation’s spiritual growth as it relates to the history and culture. Throughout his career, Michael Allen was involved in designing exhibits and presenting interpretive programs that involve local communities and history. These programs were designed to attract non-traditional audiences to National Park Service and other historic sites.
Michael Allen will be presenting "The Quest for Freedom and Citizenship in a New Landscape."
Pernessa Seele
President - Lincolnville Preservation & Historical Society
Pernessa Seele is the Founder/President of the Lincolnville Preservation & Historical Society and Founder/CEO of The Balm In Gilead. Dr. Seele is well known for her extraordinary vision and ability to create national and global partnerships in support of service to people.
Pernessa Seele will be presenting "Lincolnville, SC - 159 Years from Reconstruction to Today!"
Robert Adams, Ph.D
Executive Director - Penn Center
Robert is an anthropologist by training who focuses on the intersection between race and culture. He has conducted research in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and North America.
Dr. Adams will be discussing Penn Center's history of land owernship.
Christopher Barr
Chief of Interpretation - Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
Chris is the Chief of Interpretation at Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, where he coordinates the day to day visitor services, programs, and staffing of the park sites across Beaufort County. He has been at Reconstruction Era National Historical Park since 2019.
Chris Barr will be presenting "Freedom Through Finances: The Freedman's Bank in the Lowcountry and Beyond."
Grace Morris Cordial
Senior Librarian and Archivist, Beaufort District Collection - Beaufort County Library
Ms. Cordial has managed the local history unit of the Beaufort County Library system for more than 25 years.
Grace Cordial will provide an overview of BDC resources for local genealogy and historical research during one of our midday breakout sessions, facilitated by USCB's Dr. James Shinn.
Eric Ellis
Historian - National Park Service
Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Eric enlisted in the US Navy after high school. After which he attended New Mexico State University, receiving his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Public and US History. Eric has spent his last two years with the National Park Service studying Black landownership in Beaufort County.
Eric Ellis will be discussing the US Direct Tax Commissioner land sales in the Sea Islands during Reconstruction.
Belinda & Tony Jones
Co-Owners, Agritourism Managers - Morning Glory Homestead Farm, LLC.
Tony and Belinda Jones are Gullah descendants with deep family roots in the Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor. Tony's ancestor Pompey Coaxum was enslaved on the McTureous Plantation, the same land where they now own and operate Morning Glory Homestead Farm, and his foresight led him to purchase nearly 40 acres and serve on local committees that protected Black landowners. That land has remained in the family across generations, providing lasting security and legacy, and inspiring Tony and Belinda’s continued commitment to stewardship, education, and community preservation.
Belinda & Tony Jones will be discussing their family history of landownership during one of our midday breakout sessions, facilitated by ACE Mellow Humanities Fellow Dr. Francena Turner.
Elizabeth Laney
Research Associate - USCB Institute for theStudy of the Reconstruction Era
Elizabeth Laney, M.A., is a historian and genealogist with 20+ years experience working in state parks, historic sites and museums. She specializes in the history of the Reconstruction Era and the history of the State of South Carolina with a particular focus on African American communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and South Carolina’s Black military legacy. She has worked for ISRE since 2022.
Elizabeth Laney will be leading a short workshop on US Colored Troop pension records during one of our midday breakout sessions. The workshop will be facilitated by USCB's Dr. Mollie Barnes.
With a Special Performance By
Company I, 54th Massachusetts
US Colored Troops Reenactment Group, Charleston South Carolina
Master of Ceremonies
Hermina Glass-Hill
Founder & Executive Director - Susie King Taylor Women's Institute and Ecology Center
Hermina Glass-Hill is an award-winning public historian, museum curator, environmental activist, and ocean conservationist. She is the premier scholar on the life and legacy of America's heroine of freedom, Susie King Taylor - a freedom seeker, Civil War laundress, teacher, healer and nurse, Reconstruction-era educator and entrepreneur, and an early social justice activist in Boston, Massachusetts.
Sponsors
This project is made possible by a grant from the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage
Corridor, as well as the ACE Mellon Humanities Program.
We'd also like to acknowledge the following:
- The Dick & Sharon Stewart Foundation
- Lincolnville Preservation & Historical Society
- The Susie King Taylor Women's Institute and Ecology Center
- Ernest A. Finney, Jr. Cultural Arts Center
Thank you to all of our sponsors! We truly couldn't do it without you.
Past Symposiums
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 .