Our guests for the post-election analysis segment include Colby Itkowitz of the Allentown Morning Call and Ivey DeJesus of the Harrisburg Patriot-News, both of whom covered the Toomey-Sestak race, and Pete DeCoursey, Harrisburg bureau chief for Capitolwire, an online subscription news service. We want to hear your thoughts on the results and what you want these elected officials to do when they're in office. Call in live from 8-9 tonight at 1-800-729-7532, or send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or post a comment on www.facebook.com/witf.org.
In our second segment, we will preview Saturday's re-enactment of a military procession that took place in Harrisburg after the Civil War to honor colored troops. In 1865, the country celebrated the North's victory with a Grand Review, a huge military parade, in Washington, DC. But the celebration excluded more than 185,000 African-American soldiers from 25 states. Harrisburg's Garnet Equal Rights League stepped in and organized its own U.S. Colored Troops Grand Review. It is that ceremony that 11 uniformed re-enactment regiments and USCT descendants will commemorate this weekend. The procession begins at The Forum and travels to the State Capitol. You can check out today's Radio Smart Talk program to hear more about the celebration.
Lenwood Sloan, director of cultural and heritage tourism for the state Department of Community and Economic Development, is a leading force behind the commemoration events and the preservation of USCT records and sites. He joins us tonight along with Calobe Jackson, Jr., an African-American historian, dressed in uniform and representing Thomas Morris Chester. He is co-Grand Marshal for the event.
Ellen Brown, executive director of the Harrisburg SusqueCentennial Commission, will share with us Harrisburg's proud history of social activism 150 years ago, including its prominence along the Underground Railroad. Bob Welsh also will be a guest. Welsh organized the conservation efforts to restore the grave sites of USCT troops at 25 cemeteries across the commonwealth. He also is the project manager for 100 Voices, an effort to select college students to represent 100 men of the USCT and serve as Living History performers at various commemoration events.
