Speaker Scott Britton will share original research on the remarkable lives of one family from Texas and Athens, Ohio. Brothers Milton, William, and James Holland were all born to an enslaved woman in Texas on the Spearman Holland cotton plantation. Their father, Bird Holland, was a prominent politician and brother of Spearman. In a complex and unexpected dichotomy of attitudes regarding slavery and his own family, Bird arranged to send his three multiracial sons to be educated at the Albany Manual Labor Academy, a school in Athens County that taught free Black children.
Join us as we learn about this intriguing and complicated family dynamics that produced an extraordinary legacy. While their father Bird would serve as Secretary of State for Texas at the outbreak of the Civil War and be killed while serving as an officer in the Confederate army, the three brothers would all join the Union cause. Milton played a role in recruiting Ohio’s first Black regiment, the 5th U.S. Colored Infantry, and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism and leadership during the Petersburg Campaign. He would become a prominent lawyer after the war. His brother William would serve as one of the first elected Black legislators after returning to Texas, helping to establish Prairie View A&M University and other educational institutions for Black youth. In another unexpected twist to their story, Mr. Britton has also discovered new details on their other often overlooked brother James’ amazing and unexpected service, post-war life, and burial at Arlington National Cemetery. Snacks will be provided
Biography
Scott Britton is the Executive Director of The Castle Museum in Marietta. Scott is a frequent speaker on a plethora of topics related to the Civil War and multicultural history in Southeastern Ohio. At The Castle Museum, he conducts a wide variety of educational programs for students and adults, including frequent walking tours of Marietta’s historic cemeteries. Scott is a graduate of Penn State University and is a Past Commander of the General Benjamin D. Fearing Camp #2 Sons of Union Veterans and Past President of the Washington County Historical Society. He co-founded the Civil War Roundtable of the Mid-Ohio Valley in 2012 and has been a tour guide for their popular battlefield bus trips where he relates the stories of Mid-Ohio Valley veterans of the American Revolution and Civil War at the exact location of their service through personal stories discovered during his research.
This event is a prequel to our Juneteenth Celebration on June 12, in which we will host the Michael Boulware Moore, great-great grandson of Robert Smalls and Reverend Clark Morgan portraying Milton Holland, 5th U.S. Colored Infantry Medal of Honor recipient.