“The Life and Times of William Webb: An African-American Civil War Soldier from Connecticut.”

Great Oak Middle School in conjunction with the Oxford Historical Society put on a social studies presentation in the school’s gymnasium for 160 eighth grade students on Monday, April 21, 2014. Kevin Johnson, acting as William Webb, an African-American Civil War Soldier from Connecticut, was the guest speaker. Susan Purcella Gibbons, an eighth grade teacher at GOMS, organized the event.

Private Webb was an actual soldier, a native of Hartford. He was recruited in 1863 and served in the Twenty-Ninth (Colored) Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry in several battles in Virginia. Johnson’s presentation of Webb is told from an emotional and exciting first-person perspective that vividly illustrates the struggle of the African-Americans in the Colored Infantry during the Civil War. He tells of his early life in Hartford, his recruitment and training, and the traumatic final battles of the Civil War. The presentation is based on extensive research in the collections of the Connecticut State Library and the Museum of Connecticut History at 231 Capitol Ave, opposite the State Capitol in Hartford.

Kevin Johnson is an employee of the State Library’s History and Genealogy Unit. He has been presenting William Webb for more than sixteen years and has given more than 500 presentations. The Connecticut State Library provides high quality library and information services to state government and the citizens of Connecticut. It also preserves and makes accessible the records of Connecticut's history and heritage. The focus of the Museum and its collections is Connecticut's government, military and industrial history. Permanent and changing exhibits trace the growth of the State and its role in the development of the nation from the Colonial era to the present. Additional information about the State Library and the Museum of Connecticut History can be found on its Web page at http://www.cslib.org/.