SESSION PRESENTERS

Dr. Walter B. Hill, Jr.

Senior Archivist, Afro-American History

National Archives and Records Administration

Dr. Walter Hill is a Senior Archivist at the National Archives who specializes in African-American history. Since 1984, he has been an Adjunct Professor of African-American Studies at Howard University. He has held other teaching positions at Northern Illinois University, St. Louis University, and the University of Maryland, and has published articles with specific focus on Afro-American life, history, and culture. Dr. Hill has served on the Executive Council of the Association for the Study of Afro-American History as Vice President, and is currently the Chief Historian for the African American Civil War Memorial.

C.R. Gibbs

Author, Lecturer, Civil War Re-enactor

C.R. Gibbs is an author, lecturer, and Civil War reenactor. He is the author of several books, including The Friends of Frederick Douglass, Black Inventors, Black Explorers, and coauthor of Black Georgetown Remembered, he is also an expert on black Civil War units and has recently published a book, Black, Copper, and Bright: The District of Columbia's Black Civil War Regiment - on the 1st U. S. Colored Troops, organized in the District of Columbia in 1863. Mr. Gibbs has served as a consultant to the D.C. Public School System, Georgetown University, and the Smithsonian Institution.

Dr. Frank Smith, Jr.

Director, African-American Civil War Memorial and Museum

Dr. Frank Smith is a commentator, lecturer, politician and civil rights activist who fought on the front line during the civil rights struggles of the 1960's. Dr. Smith is chairman of the board and chief executive officer for the African-American Civil War Memorial Museum. The African-American Civil War Memorial - which he founded more than 10 years ago - is the newest and probably one of the most unique memorials to African Americans in the District of Columbia as well as the only national memorial to United States Colored Troops who fought in the Civil War.

Agnes Kane-Callum

Author, Lecturer, Genealogist

Agnes Kane Callum is a researcher, writer, and lecturer in United States Colored Troops and Black Genealogy. Among her publications are her books Colored Volunteers of Maryland, 7th Regiment United States Colored Troops 1863 - 1866, Bounty Records of the 9th Regiment United States Colored Troops 1863 - 1866, and History of the 9th Regiment United States Colored Troops Volunteers of Maryland, Civil War 1863 - 1866. She has a B.A. and M.S. from Morgan State University, and she did graduate studies at the University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana under a Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship.

Angela Walton-Raji

Author, Lecturer, Genealogist and Expert Witness for African-Native American

Angela Walton-Raji is an avid genealogist and author of the book Black Indian Genealogy Research: African American Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes, has researched her family history for more than a quarter of a century. During 1991, she confirmed her family records among those of the Choctaw Nation. With this enlightenment, she further discovered that her great grandparents were African slaves of Choctaw Indians, and that her Walton ancestors were among several thousand Africans who were enslaved by Native Americans, including those who migrated west on the Trail of Tears.