Recruitment of Black Soldiers in U.S. Military in Northwest Pennsylvania during the Civil War
A brief history of raising Union black regiments during the Civil War will be provided. Focus will be on the several USCT (United States Colored Troop) regiments that were partially recruited in Northwestern Pennsylvania. Muster rolls, service records, pension records, medical records, etc. were used to perform groundbreaking original research. Individual black soldiers were identified and described who enlisted or were drafted in the city of Erie, Waterford, or Meadville. U.S. Navy service by local black men will be addressed. Postwar USCT residents of the Pennsylvania Soldiers' and Sailors' Home in Erie will also be covered. Interesting stories of individuals will enrich the research discussed with the audience.
This program will be livestreamed on our Facebook page and later posted to our website and YouTube Channel.
This will be presented by George Deutsch, Executive Director, Erie County Historical Society, and Brian Graff, Retired Geographer/Cartographer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Brian Graff, M.A./M.S.
Brian Graff is a retired federal employee who moved to Erie from Washington DC in 2016. As a geographer for the government, he had a varied career with service at the Defense Mapping Agency, the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Graff earned his B.A. in Geography at Florida Atlantic University in 1977, an M.A. in Geography at the University of Illinois in 1983, and an M.S. in Strategic Science from the Joint Military Intelligence College in 2006. His Master's thesis earned the 2005-2006 Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Award for Excellence in Archival Research. Since coming to Erie, Mr. Graff has volunteered at various organizations, one of which was the Erie County Historical Society. It was while volunteering at the Historical Society that Mr. Graff performed archival research on the recruitment of black soldiers in NW Pennsylvania.
George Deutsch, B.S., Executive Director, Emeritus, of the Erie County Historical Society/Hagen History Center is a leader in historical preservation and multiple public history projects. In 2022, he concluded a five-year, $11 Million, building and exhibit construction project for the History Center. He has co-founded several historical organizations related to the Civil War and the War of 1812 in his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, including the Flagship Niagara League, which played a central role in reconstructing the U.S. Brig Niagara and creating the Erie Maritime Museum. He has taught history courses at the Chautauqua Institution in New York since 2005 and has lectured on both political and historical topics at Erie’s Jefferson Educational Society since 2010. For 30 years he has given numerous presentations on Civil War history across seven states and Washington, D.C. In 2023, Deutsch finished a three-year term on the Historical Marker Committee for the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office. He continues to serve as a representative for the America250PA Commission. He has been published in numerous journals and also served as a consultant to National Geographic magazine for its Civil War sesquicentennial issue. Deutsch was honored twice by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and received the Local History Award in 2003 from the Erie County Historical Society. He earned a degree in history from Mercyhurst University and was also educated at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He is currently writing a new book on the famous Civil War regiment, the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry from northwestern Pennsylvania.
