The Delaware County Historical Society (DCHS) announced Friday its upcoming community event, “Black Men in Blue: The Civil War, Ohioans, and the US Colored Troops.” This event is free to the public and will take place at The Barn at Stratford (2690 Stratford Road, Delaware) on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m.

This program will focus on the Ohio Black community’s response to the national conflict and the wartime participation of free Black men – specifically, the 5th and 27th USCT that both trained at Camp Delaware. The 5th United States Colored Infantry Regiment was an African American regiment of the Union Army. The regiment saw action in Virginia as part of the Richmond–Petersburg campaign and in North Carolina, where it participated in the attacks on Fort Fisher and Wilmington and the Carolinas campaign.

The guest speaker for this program is Dr. Kelly Mezurek, a professor of history at Walsh University. A lifelong Ohio resident, Mezurek earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Baldwin Wallace College and a Master of Arts degree in Public History and a Ph.D. in United States History from Kent State University. Her book, “For Their Own Cause: The 27th United States Colored Troops,” was a finalist for the 2017 Ohioana Book Award for nonfiction.

This program is made possible in part by Ohio Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Those interested in attending should register on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-men-in-blue-the-civil-war-ohioans-and-the-us-colored-troops-tickets-533838133227?aff=ebdssbdestsearch.

Registration will end on Feb. 21.