Information: The first column shows data points from Harned, William, b. 1848. in red. The third column shows data points from Carney, William H., 1840-1908 in blue. Any data they share in common is displayed as purple boxes in the middle "Shared" column.
William Harvey Carney was born as a slave in Norfolk, Virginia, on February 29, 1840. How he made his way to freedom is not certain. According to most accounts, he escaped through the Underground Railroad, and joined his father in Massachusetts. Other members of their family were freed by purchase or by the death of their master.
Carney joined the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in March 1863 as a sergeant. He took part in the July 18, 1863, assault on Fort Wagner in Charleston, South Carolina. His actions there ultimately earned him the Medal of Honor. When the color guard was killed, Carney retrieved the U.S. flag and marched forward with it, despite serious wounds. When the Union troops were forced to retreat under fire, he struggled back across the battlefield, eventually returning to his own lines and turning over the colors to another survivor of the 54th, saying, "Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground!" He received an honorable discharge due to disability from his wounds in June 1864.
After his discharge, Carney returned to New Bedford, Massachusetts, and took a job maintaining the city's streetlights. He then delivered mail for thirty-two years. He was a founding vice president of the New Bedford Branch 18 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, in 1890. He married Susannah Williams, and they had a daughter, Clara Heronia. He spent a few years in California, then returned again in 1869.
Carney received his Medal of Honor on May 23, 1900, nearly 37 years after the events at Fort Wagner (more than half of such awards from the Civil War were presented 20 or more years after the fact). Twenty African American men received the medal before him, but because his battle actions happened earlier than the others, some have incorrectly cited him as the first to receive the medal. His citation reads
When the color sergeant was shot down, this soldier grasped the flag, led the way to the parapet, and planted the colors thereon. When the troops fell back he brought off the flag, under a fierce fire in which he was twice severely wounded.
In 1901, shortly after his medal was awarded, a song was published about his daring exploits: "Boys the Old Flag Never Touched the Ground".
Carney died at the Boston City Hospital on December 9, 1908, of complications from an elevator accident at the Massachusetts State House, where he worked for the Department of State. His body lay in repose for one day at the undertaking rooms of Walden Banks, 142 Lenox Street, at the wish of his wife and daughter. He was buried in the family plot at Oak Grove Cemetery in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Engraved on his tombstone is an image of the Medal of Honor.
Carney's face is shown on the monument to Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th on the Boston Common designed by Augustus Saint Gaudens. A New Bedford, Massachusetts, elementary school was named in his honor, and his New Bedford home at 128 Mill Street is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2015, Carney was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "Strong Men & Women in Virginia History" because of his actions during the Civil War.
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<p>William Harvey Carney was born as a slave in Norfolk, Virginia, on February 29, 1840. How he made his way to freedom is not certain. According to most accounts, he escaped through the Underground Railroad, and joined his father in Massachusetts. Other members of their family were freed by purchase or by the death of their master.</p>
<p>Carney joined the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in March 1863 as a sergeant. He took part in the July 18, 1863, assault on Fort Wagner in Charleston, South Carolina. His actions there ultimately earned him the Medal of Honor. When the color guard was killed, Carney retrieved the U.S. flag and marched forward with it, despite serious wounds. When the Union troops were forced to retreat under fire, he struggled back across the battlefield, eventually returning to his own lines and turning over the colors to another survivor of the 54th, saying, "Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground!" He received an honorable discharge due to disability from his wounds in June 1864.</p>
<p>After his discharge, Carney returned to New Bedford, Massachusetts, and took a job maintaining the city's streetlights. He then delivered mail for thirty-two years. He was a founding vice president of the New Bedford Branch 18 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, in 1890. He married Susannah Williams, and they had a daughter, Clara Heronia. He spent a few years in California, then returned again in 1869.</p>
<p>Carney received his Medal of Honor on May 23, 1900, nearly 37 years after the events at Fort Wagner (more than half of such awards from the Civil War were presented 20 or more years after the fact). Twenty African American men received the medal before him, but because his battle actions happened earlier than the others, some have incorrectly cited him as the first to receive the medal. His citation reads</p>
<p>When the color sergeant was shot down, this soldier grasped the flag, led the way to the parapet, and planted the colors thereon. When the troops fell back he brought off the flag, under a fierce fire in which he was twice severely wounded.</p>
<p>In 1901, shortly after his medal was awarded, a song was published about his daring exploits: "Boys the Old Flag Never Touched the Ground".</p>
<p>Carney died at the Boston City Hospital on December 9, 1908, of complications from an elevator accident at the Massachusetts State House, where he worked for the Department of State. His body lay in repose for one day at the undertaking rooms of Walden Banks, 142 Lenox Street, at the wish of his wife and daughter. He was buried in the family plot at Oak Grove Cemetery in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Engraved on his tombstone is an image of the Medal of Honor.</p>
<p>Carney's face is shown on the monument to Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th on the Boston Common designed by Augustus Saint Gaudens. A New Bedford, Massachusetts, elementary school was named in his honor, and his New Bedford home at 128 Mill Street is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.</p>
<p>In 2015, Carney was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "Strong Men & Women in Virginia History" because of his actions during the Civil War.</p>
Wikipedia.org article for William Harvey Carney, viewed June 15, 2020
<p>William Harvey Carney was born as a slave in Norfolk, Virginia, on February 29, 1840. How he made his way to freedom is not certain. According to most accounts, he escaped through the Underground Railroad, and joined his father in Massachusetts. Other members of their family were freed by purchase or by the death of their master.</p>
<p>Carney joined the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in March 1863 as a sergeant. He took part in the July 18, 1863, assault on Fort Wagner in Charleston, South Carolina. His actions there ultimately earned him the Medal of Honor. When the color guard was killed, Carney retrieved the U.S. flag and marched forward with it, despite serious wounds. When the Union troops were forced to retreat under fire, he struggled back across the battlefield, eventually returning to his own lines and turning over the colors to another survivor of the 54th, saying, "Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground!" He received an honorable discharge due to disability from his wounds in June 1864.</p>
<p>After his discharge, Carney returned to New Bedford, Massachusetts, and took a job maintaining the city's streetlights. He then delivered mail for thirty-two years. He was a founding vice president of the New Bedford Branch 18 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, in 1890. He married Susannah Williams, and they had a daughter, Clara Heronia. He spent a few years in California, then returned again in 1869.</p>
<p>Carney received his Medal of Honor on May 23, 1900, nearly 37 years after the events at Fort Wagner (more than half of such awards from the Civil War were presented 20 or more years after the fact). Twenty African American men received the medal before him, but because his battle actions happened earlier than the others, some have incorrectly cited him as the first to receive the medal. His citation reads</p>
<p>When the color sergeant was shot down, this soldier grasped the flag, led the way to the parapet, and planted the colors thereon. When the troops fell back he brought off the flag, under a fierce fire in which he was twice severely wounded.</p>
<p>In 1901, shortly after his medal was awarded, a song was published about his daring exploits: "Boys the Old Flag Never Touched the Ground".</p>
<p>Carney died at the Boston City Hospital on December 9, 1908, of complications from an elevator accident at the Massachusetts State House, where he worked for the Department of State. His body lay in repose for one day at the undertaking rooms of Walden Banks, 142 Lenox Street, at the wish of his wife and daughter. He was buried in the family plot at Oak Grove Cemetery in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Engraved on his tombstone is an image of the Medal of Honor.</p>
<p>Carney's face is shown on the monument to Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th on the Boston Common designed by Augustus Saint Gaudens. A New Bedford, Massachusetts, elementary school was named in his honor, and his New Bedford home at 128 Mill Street is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.</p>
<p>In 2015, Carney was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "Strong Men & Women in Virginia History" because of his actions during the Civil War.</p>
Title:
Amistad Schooner case collection, 1839-1968.
Items include facsimiles of correspondence, maps, press clippings, etc. Microfilm made chiefly by William and Muriel Peters from originals in Butler Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Long Island, N.Y.; Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston; National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C.; Schomburg Collection, New York Public Library; Sterling Memorial Library, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.; and other repositories. Correspondence, diaries, articles, reports, speeches, programs, clippings, maps, book excerpts, and other documents, pertaining to the Amistad case, Africans known as Amistads, and those involved in the effort to free them, led by Lewis Tappan. Includes letters from the Africans Cinque and Kale, portrait of Cinque by Nathaniel Jocelyn, history of the American Missionary Association by Lewis Tappan, and material relating to the capture of the ship off the coast of Long Island, trial, and subsequent life of the freed Amistads. Correspondents include Charles Francis Adams, Franklin Adams, John Quincy Adams, Leonard Bacon, Roger Sherman Baldwin, Noah Bayley, David Biggs, Joel P. Bishop, James Buchanan, Josiah Butler, John Forsyth, William Harned, Washington Irving, William Jay, Simeon Jocelyn, Hugh S. Legare, Joshua Leavitt, Ellis Gray Loring, James Morss, Samuel D. Parker, Theophilus Parsons, Richard Peters, Joseph S. Pickering, William Seward, Theodore Sedgwick, Seth Staples, William S. Taneyhill, Lewis Tappan, John Tyler, and Martin Van Buren.
ArchivalResource:
10 items and 6 Microfilm: 5 rolls positive and 1 roll negative and positive.
Headley and Reed (New Bedford, Mass.),. William H. Carney [photograph], [ca. 1900].
Title:
William H. Carney [photograph], [ca. 1900].
Cabinet card photograph of Sergeant William H. Carney of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. In the photo, Carney is wearing the Congressional Medal of Honor, which he received on 23 May 1900 for his actions at the Battle of Fort Wagner, S.C. in 1863; he was the first African American to receive such an honor. The photo was taken ca. 1900 by Headley and Reed of New Bedford, Mass.
ArchivalResource:
1 photograph : cabinet card, b&w ; 16 1/2 x 10 1/2 cm.
Headley and Reed (New Bedford, Mass.),. William H. Carney [photograph], [ca. 1900].
0
Carney, William H., 1840-1908
referencedIn
Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984
Series: Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War, 1890 - 1912
File Unit: [Massachusetts] Carney, William H - Age 22, Year: 1863 - 54th Massachusetts Infantry, Brown-Coker
Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984
Series: Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War, 1890 - 1912
File Unit: [Massachusetts] Carney, William H - Age 22, Year: 1863 - 54th Massachusetts Infantry, Brown-Coker
Title:
Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984
Series: Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War, 1890 - 1912
File Unit: [Massachusetts] Carney, William H - Age 22, Year: 1863 - 54th Massachusetts Infantry, Brown-Coker
Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984
Series: Letters Received, 1863 - 1894
File Unit: Consolidated File for Sergeant William H. Carney, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (Colored)
Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984
Series: Letters Received, 1863 - 1894
File Unit: Consolidated File for Sergeant William H. Carney, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (Colored)
Title:
Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984
Series: Letters Received, 1863 - 1894
File Unit: Consolidated File for Sergeant William H. Carney, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (Colored)
Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984
Series: Letters Received, 1863 - 1894
File Unit: Consolidated File for Sergeant William H. Carney, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (Colored)
Item: Letter from William Carney to General Fred C. Ainsworth, 5/25/1900
Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984
Series: Letters Received, 1863 - 1894
File Unit: Consolidated File for Sergeant William H. Carney, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (Colored)
Item: Letter from William Carney to General Fred C. Ainsworth, 5/25/1900
Title:
Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984
Series: Letters Received, 1863 - 1894
File Unit: Consolidated File for Sergeant William H. Carney, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (Colored)
Item: Letter from William Carney to General Fred C. Ainsworth, 5/25/1900
Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984
Series: Letters Received, 1863 - 1894
File Unit: Congressional Medal of Honor File of Sergeant William H. Carney, Company C, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (U.S. Colored Troops)
Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984
Series: Letters Received, 1863 - 1894
File Unit: Congressional Medal of Honor File of Sergeant William H. Carney, Company C, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (U.S. Colored Troops)
Title:
Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984
Series: Letters Received, 1863 - 1894
File Unit: Congressional Medal of Honor File of Sergeant William H. Carney, Company C, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (U.S. Colored Troops)
Guide to the Daily Worker and Daily World Photographs Collection, 1920-2001
Guide to the Daily Worker and Daily World Photographs Collection, 1920-2001
Title:
Guide to the Daily Worker and Daily World Photographs Collection, 1920-2001
The official organ of the Communist Party, USA, the Daily Worker's editorial positions reflected the policies of the Communist Party. At the same time the paper also attempted to speak to the broad left-wing community in the United States that included labor, civil rights, and peace activists, with stories covering a wide range of events, organizations and individuals in the United States and around the world. As a daily newspaper, it covered the major stories of the twentieth century. However, the paper always placed an emphasis on radical social movements, social and economic conditions particularly in working class and minority communities, poverty, labor struggles, racial discrimination, right wing extremism with an emphasis on fascist and Nazi movements, and of course the Soviet Union and the world-wide Communist movement. The paper has had a succession of names and has been published in varying frequences between daily to weekly over the course of its existence. In 2010 it ceased print publication and became an electronic, online-only, weekly publication titled the People's World. The bulk of the collection consists of printed photographic images produced through a variety of processes, collected by the photography editors of the Daily Worker and its successor newspapers as a means of maintaining an organized collection of images for use in publication. Images of many important people, groups and events associated with the CPUSA and the American Left are present in the collection, as well as images of a wide variety of people, subjects and events not explicitly linked with the CPUSA or Left politics.
ArchivalResource:
227 Linear Feet in 226 record cartons and 2 oversized boxes
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