The Testimony of Henry Adams, Freedman: Hope, Terror, and Exodus in the Post-Civil War South
Hope, Terror, and Exodus in the Post–Civil War South
Book • 2026
This Library of America publication presents, for the first time in full, the March 1880 Senate testimony of Henry Adams, a remarkable post–Civil War figure—soldier, laborer, faith healer, and political activist—interrogated during a Senate inquiry into the exodus of freed people from the South.
The edition includes an introduction by Stephen Hahn that situates Adams’s testimony within Reconstruction-era struggles over labor, political rights, and migration.
Through Adams’s firsthand account, readers gain insight into the lived experiences and political organizing of freedpeople during the turbulent postwar transition.
The volume aims to reshape understandings of Reconstruction by foregrounding a previously underappreciated primary source and illustrating how ordinary actors contested white supremacy.
It is intended for scholars and general readers interested in Reconstruction, testimony records, and the politics of migration in the late 19th century.
The edition includes an introduction by Stephen Hahn that situates Adams’s testimony within Reconstruction-era struggles over labor, political rights, and migration.
Through Adams’s firsthand account, readers gain insight into the lived experiences and political organizing of freedpeople during the turbulent postwar transition.
The volume aims to reshape understandings of Reconstruction by foregrounding a previously underappreciated primary source and illustrating how ordinary actors contested white supremacy.
It is intended for scholars and general readers interested in Reconstruction, testimony records, and the politics of migration in the late 19th century.
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Mentioned by Max Rudin as an upcoming LOA volume presenting the complete March 1880 testimony of Henry Adams with an introduction by Stephen Hahn.
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