Michael G. Shiner | |
|---|---|
 A coffle of enslaved men in front of the US Capitol in the 1830s | |
| Born | 1805 |
| Died | January 16, 1880 (aged 74–75) |
| Known for | Diary records of Washington D.C. for more than 60 years |
Michael G. Shiner (c. 1805–1880) was an African-American Navy Yard worker and diarist who chronicled events in Washington D.C. for more than 60 years, first as a slave and later as a free man. His diary is the earliest-known by an African American resident of the District of Columbia.[1] The diary has numerous entries which have provided historians a firsthand account of the War of 1812, the British Invasion of Washington, the burning of the U.S. Capitol and Navy Yard, and the rescue of his family from slavery as well as shipyard working conditions, 1835 Washington Navy Yard labor strike, Snow Riot, racial tensions and other issues and events of nineteenth century, military and civilian life.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
- ^ By Broad Potomac's Shore Great Poems from the Early Days of Our Nation's Capital, editor Kim Roberts, (University of Virginia, Charlottesville,2022),p.5.
- ^ "Slavery and the Making of America . The Slave Experience: The Family | PBS". www.thirteen.org.
- ^ "Michael Shiner - Biographies - The Civil War in America | Exhibitions - Library of Congress". loc.gov. November 12, 2012.
- ^ Bolden, Tonya (January 6, 2015). Capital Days: Michael Shiner's Journal and the Growth of Our Nation's Capital. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 9781419707339 – via Google Books.
- ^ "The Diary of Michael Shiner Relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard 1813-1869". NHHC.
- ^ "Life of Freed Slave Michael Shiner | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org.
- ^ Steve Vogel, Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks That Saved the Nation, Random House, May 7, 2013 p. 165