Reconstruction, Redemption and the Ongoing Struggle For Freedom

The Reconstruction era is typically defined as that period starting at 1865 with the ratification of the 13th Amendment and ending in 1877 with the disputed presidential election of Rutherford B. Hayes and the Compromise of 1877. But so often in school, that time period in our nation’s history is glossed over. What do we really know about Reconstruction? And how can studying that period help us better understand where we are today as a county? On this show, we talk with Attorney James Williams, retired Orange County Chief Public Defender and the organizer of an upcoming symposium on the Reconstruction period, and Dr. William Sturkey, Professor of History at UNC Chapel Hill, and author of a recently published book titled “Hattiesburg: An American City in Black and White.”