"The Sergeant" Book Talk & Signing with Dean Calbreath
May 21 2023 | 2:00pm to 3:00pm
The Sergeant: The Incredible Life of Nicholas Said: Son of an African General, Slave of the Ottomans, Free Man Under the Tsars, Hero of the Union Army
Nicholas Said was a Union Army sergeant who was born in Africa and traveled through much of the Middle East and Europe before winding up in Detroit on the eve of the Civil War, where he taught French at a private "colored school." After unsuccessfully trying to join the Union Army there (which at the time had a whites-only policy), he eventually traveled to Massachusetts to join the 55th Massachusetts Infantry (African Descent) to fight in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.
In The Sergeant, Said’s epic (and largely unknown) story is brought to light by globe-trotting, Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist Dean Calbreath in a meticulously researched and approachable biography.
Free for members, free with museum admission for non-members.
