BEFORE GARVEY! HENRY MCNEAL TURNER AND THE FIGHT FOR REPARATIONS, EMIGRATION AND BLACK RIGHTS
Black Chaplain in Armed Forces
“Handbill,” 1863. Image Courtesy of National Archives.
Turner was the second Black Chaplain in the US Army and a vocal supporter of the Union cause. Rev. William H. Hunter was the first. [1] Before his appointment, Turner encouraged Blacks to join the armed fight against slavery from the pulpit and in the Black press, staging recruitment meetings in the yard of his church.
Assigned by Abraham Lincoln to serve with Company B of the First Regiment of US Colored Troops, Turner was embedded with his unit and wrote extensively about his experiences. Turner’s letters were a popular and recurring feature in The Christian Recorder, the longest running Black-owned paper in the United States.
References
[1] “Rev. H. M. Turner.” The Christian Recorder, 21 Nov. 1863. Accessible Archives © 2016 Accessible Archives Inc.