*Searching For Black Confederates* Gets Final Approval

Yesterday I learned that the Board of Governors at the University of North Carolina Press gave Searching for Black Confederates: The Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth its final approval. I knew the decision was scheduled to take place and that it would be a formality, but it was still a thrill to receive official notice.

It’s been a long road.

We still, however, have not crossed the goal line. I have until the end of the month to respond to a few more comments from the second round of reviews and to finalize permissions to publish roughly twenty illustrations. From there the manuscript goes to copy edit.

The book should be included in UNC Press’s Fall 2019 catalog. I will continue to provide updates on the final production of the book, including when it will be available for pre-order.

As always, thanks for your continued support and patience. I really do appreciate all the enthusiasm and buzz surrounding this project.

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16 comments… add one
  • Ace of Stars Jul 18, 2018 @ 5:16

    Kind of difficult navigating your site… only just now came across this most recent update re: publication & release of “SfBC” after a lot of bouncing around on and off site. As stated before, I’m really looking forward to this addition to the Civil War history collection, and I would LOVE to be able to PREORDER the finished product directly. (Could individually purchased preorders be “signed copies,” maybe?) Thank you again for the hard (and important) work! Aloha.

    • Kevin Levin Jul 18, 2018 @ 8:11

      Thanks for your interest. The book will be published in the Fall 2019 so we are still a ways away. I will be keeping people updated on this site as well as on twitter.

      Not sure why you are having difficulty navigating this site. It’s pretty straightforward.

  • Eric Koszyk Jul 17, 2018 @ 10:05

    Congratulations and thank you for doing this.

  • Matt McKeon Jul 13, 2018 @ 16:36

    Congratulations, Kevin. I can’t wait to read it.

    • Kevin Levin Jul 14, 2018 @ 1:48

      Thanks, Matt.

  • Msb Jul 13, 2018 @ 10:36

    Congratulations, Kevin, for getting a step closer to publishing this work,
    Congratulations, me, for getting a step closer to reading it!

    • Kevin Levin Jul 13, 2018 @ 11:20

      Thank you.

  • Cecelia Boler Jul 13, 2018 @ 5:16

    Hello! I discovered last year that my great-grandfather’s brother, Fred Hopkins, had received a confederate pension. It was in his obituary. I have hopes of discovering more about how and why he was on the confederate side and my great-grandfather was on the Union side. I can’t wait to read this book!😃

    • Andy Hall Jul 13, 2018 @ 9:14

      What state, please?

      • Cecelia Boler Jul 13, 2018 @ 11:16

        Vicksburg, Mississippi

        • Kevin Levin Jul 13, 2018 @ 11:19

          Mississippi was the first of five former Confederate states to issue pensions to former slaves. Again, as I pointed out in the previous comment these pensions were for former slaves and not soldiers. In fact, the pension applications state this explicitly. These documents are located in the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in Jackson.

          • Cecelia Boler Jul 13, 2018 @ 11:51

            Wow! Thank you so much for this information. I figured that he most likely was serving in that capacity. I can’t wait to read the book.😃 Ironically, he and my great-grandfather, Carter Temple, became police officers after the War.

    • Kevin Levin Jul 13, 2018 @ 11:16

      Hi Cecelia,

      Thanks for taking the time to comment. Your great-grandfather very likely received a pension for his role as a camp servant or what I call in the book, a camp slave. His pension was not for his service as a Confederate soldier. A few former Confederate states issued pensions to former slaves in acknowledgment of their former masters. I have an entire chapter in this book devoted to this aspect of the myth, which I am sure will help you to better understand your ancestor’s history.

      • Cecelia Boler Jul 13, 2018 @ 11:54

        If I locate the records on him when I travel to Mississippi, will they reveal his “master” at the time?

        • Kevin Levin Jul 13, 2018 @ 11:59

          The pension application for Mississippi asks former slaves to indicate which officer they went off to war with, which was very likely his owner.

          • Cecelia Boler Jul 13, 2018 @ 12:03

            Great! Thank you so much!😃

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