Doneeca Thurston
As we continue to prepare for and promote the upcoming Defending Democracy program on Oct. 4 at Lynn City Hall, I got a chance to sit down with one of the speakers, Dr. Kabria Baumgartner, to learn more about what she plans to discuss and what she’s most looking forward to at the event.
Baumgartner is the dean’s associate professor of history and Africana studies and the associate director of public history at Northeastern University. She is a historian of the 19th-century United States, specializing in the history of education, African American women’s and gender history, and New England studies.
Having recently completed an annotated guide for the National Park Service on the history of African Americans in Essex County with Dr. Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello, Baumgartner will be focusing on the experiences of African-American youth in 19th-century Massachusetts at Defending Democracy.
In early conversations with fellow panelist and former mayor of Beaufort, S.C. Billy Keyserling, Baumgartner recalled the importance of sharing this history with a younger audience. Putting youth at the center of that history might motivate young people in attendance. So, she’s been finding ways to share the history of youth activism from 1860-1865 in Greater Boston to inspire youth today.
One particular story is that of an African-American youth named Arthur Schuyler from nearby Lawrence. He entered the Civil War as a soldier, part of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, at 15. He felt compelled to fight, and thus lied about his age to serve. Schuyler fought in the regiment’s heroic assault on Battery Wagner.
He survived the war and came back home to Lawrence, but ended up dying from tuberculosis at the age of 18. While the end of Schuyler’s story was tragic, it’s also his story that made Baumgartner realize there were quite a few Black youths from Massachusetts who fought in the Civil War.
Considering age as a category of analysis, Baumgartner thought, would be a good topic for the Defending Democracy panel.
“For Arthur to make that decision at 15 that he will fight in this war is incredible to me. And again, it made me think about other 16- and 17-year-olds from Massachusetts who fought in the war,” Baumgartner said.
She is excited to share Schuyler’s case as a critical story but also will enumerate how many other youths were fighting this war.
As we’re thinking about these big ideas like democracy, Baumgartner is excited about the opportunity to listen to young people and honor their voices as part of the event. She said that is what she is looking forward to the most.
“I’m really interested in hearing youth today describe the tools and strategies that they need from us. I appreciate cross-generational activism and collaboration, and I want to hear what youth need from educators to give them the tools to bring about change at school, in their neighborhood or community, or in their city or the state,” she said.
Baumgartner knows that there are youth in our communities participating in activism and social justice work, and we just don’t often hear about it. With the Defending Democracy event, she hopes to make their work visible and tie it to history.
In wrapping up our conversation, Baumgartner reflected on the name of the event, Defending Democracy, which reminded her of a review of a book by Jennifer Ratner Rosenhagen, “The Ideas that Made America: A Brief History.” In this book, Rosenhagen touches upon the sense that democracy always needs to be defended.
“The review of her book mentions scholar Robert Martin, and what stuck with me is his idea that there’s always a burden on the present generation to redeem their democracy because it is imperfect. That’s what I want people to be aware of. That is what Rosenhagen’s book shows: We all collectively build and rebuild our democracy. It’s not finished. And because it’s imperfect, there are parts that we have to keep working on to perfect it. So, I hope people can identify their role in that process during and after this symposium.”
For more information about the Defending Democracy event or to donate, visit https://garlynn.org/defending-democracy/.
Also join us Wednesday, June 28, at 6 p.m. for a special presentation by author Tom Dalton on his book “Frederick Douglass: The Lynn Years 1841-1848” at the Lynn Museum. The suggested donation is $15, and funds raised will go toward supporting the Defending Democracy event.
Doneeca Thurston is the executive director of Lynn Museum/LynnArts, which will be presenting the Defending Democracy event alongside the Grand Army of the Republic of Lynn. She is a 2014 graduate of the Master of Arts in public history program at Northeastern University.
