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Holly Pinheiro, Jr.

Holly Pinheiro, Jr. Profile Photo

I am an Assistant Professor of African American History in the Department of History at Furman University. My research focuses on the intersectionality of race, gender, and class in the military from 1850 through the 1930s. Counter to the national narrative which championed the patriotic manhood of soldiering from the Civil War through the 1930s, my research reveals that African American veterans and their families’ military experience were much more fraught. Economic and social instability introduced by military service resonated for years and even generations after soldiers left the battlefield. I have published articles in edited volumes and academic journals, in and outside of the United States. My manuscript, The Families’ Civil War, is under contract with The University of Georgia Press in the UnCivil Wars Series. The study highlights how racism, within and outside of military service, impacted the bodies, economies, family structures, and social spaces of African Americans long after the war ended.

May 29, 2023

Black Soldiers & their Families in the Civil War

As soon as the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter, free Black men in the North rushed to enlist, but they were turned away, as President Lincoln worried that arming Black soldiers would lead to secession …