Visiting Owens Dawson

Researching the life and times of Q.M. Sgt. Owens Dawson of the Twenty-fifth U.S. Colored Infantry has provided me an opportunity to get to know a man who died fifty-nine years before my birth. I've imagined him waiting on tables in a Philadelphia restaurant before the war, marching to the sound of drum and fife on the drill ground at Camp William Penn, mourning the untimely death of his first wife, traveling to Washington, D.C., to begin a new life, and, in his dotage, chatting up aged veterans at a Grand Army of the Republic reunion.

Today, I visited his grave site at Arlington National Cemetery, located a few miles from my home. I enjoyed a quiet moment to reflect on a life of joy and sorrow, in service of country, for the betterment of our nation.

Little could he have imagined that 105 years after his death that I would be standing at his grave site, snapping pictures of a cool marble slab that marks the spot where his earthly remains lie undisturbed, a silent stone witness to the memory of a man.

Success at Camp William Penn

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting key individuals involved in the effort to renovate the museum dedicated to Philadelphia's historic Camp William Penn, the first federal recruiting and training camp for black soldiers. Director Joyce Werkman and Jim Paradis, author of two books, Strike the Blow for Freedom: The 6th United States Colored Infantry in the Civil War and African Americans And The Gettysburg Campaign, generously shared their knowledge and experience during our meeting.

I came away with scans of two soldier images, a carte de visite of a chaplain and a tintype of a quartermaster sergeant. These are the nineteenth and twentieth images secured for the book.

I am very impressed with the dedication to making the renovated museum a reality. The depth of commitment to the project impressed me, and I urge anyone interested in preserving this unique museum and place to support the group behind the effort, the Citizens for the Restoration of Historical La Mott (CROHL). The village of La Mott is one of the first communities in America to encourage integrated living. Six post-Civil War houses in the community are said to have been built from wood salvaged from nearby Camp William Penn. Still standing is the camp's gate and gatehouse.