Did you know that Blacks were forming militias in the years leading up to the Civil War? Come to our October 15 th meeting, and hear our Guest Speaker, Julian Della Puppa, discuss the creation, and formation of the early Black abolitionist, and anti-slavery, militias; and, how they were formed in local Black communities in the North. Learn how these militias, and those that served in them, would become some of the first units to have recruits who would join the USCT regiments formed in 1863. Also, find out the impact they had on the outcome of the war.

Julian Della Puppa
Julian Della Puppa is a an archivist, and public historian. He is an USC alumni with a master’s degree in Management Library and Information Science. Julian has worked at the USC Shoah Foundation as a metadata archivist, assisting in preserving Holocaust, and other historic genocide materials for use in education. Julian currently works at the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum, where he assists in teaching the public about California’s role in the civil war, as a living historian and guide. He is also a part of the 97th USCT living history group, regularly participating in events that allow him to speak about the lives, and contributions, of African American soldiers during the Civil War.