Make Good the Promises: Reconstruction and Its Legacies
Tour an exhibit focused on the period following the Civil War—through an African American lens.
Newly free at J.J. Smith's Plantation in Beaufort, SCReckoning With Our Racial Past
This exhibition focuses on the period following the Civil War—through an African American lens. The United States emerged from the Civil War fundamentally changed. For the first time, slavery did not legally exist within its borders.
Emancipation Day Celebration (1900-06-19)Reckoning With Our Racial Past
What this meant was the question before the nation. Would four million newly freed people be truly free to determine their own lives? Would the nation’s founding promises of liberty, equality, and justice be realized for all people, regardless of race?
These were the questions of Reconstruction. They remain the challenges of today.
"The question now is, 'Do you mean to make good to us the promises in your Constitution?'"
- Frederick Douglass, speech at Republican National Convention, 1876
Let the museum curators and educators take you on a 13 minutes tour of Make Good the Promises through the 13 minutes of video clips below.
"Make Good the Promises" Introduction with former Acting Director Spencer Crew
"1865: America Without Slavery" with Spencer Crew
"The Freedmen's Bureau" with Katy Kendrick
"Visions of Freedom: Family" with Candra Flanagan
"Visions of Freedom: Democracy" with Katy Kendrick
"Legacies of Reconstruction" with Paul Gardullo
"Legacies of Reconstruction" cont., with Spencer Crew
"Reflection Space" with Candra Flanagan
Reckoning With Our Racial Past Exhibit Tours
Enjoy the tour? Try these other tours of groundbreaking exhibits in the Reckoning With Our Racial Past family.
Make Good the Promises: Reconstruction and Its Legacy
Americans: Indians Are Everywhere
Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.
