ABSTRACT
During the summer of 2011, the "Lift Ev'ry Voice" Festival celebrated the Berkshires' rich African-American heritage with partnerships between many cultural institutions throughout the county. The Festival was officially announced at the Second Congregational Church in Pittsfield, from which pulpit the Reverend Samuel Harrison took his leave to become chaplain of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment in the Civil War, one of the first all-Black units of the Union Army. After an all too brief honeymoon in Lenox, the commander of that unit, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, would fall near Charleston in 1863, he and his men later to be memorialised in the movie Glory. "Lift Ev'ry Voice" returned to Berkshire County with a summer-long celebration. It invited those of interested in the creative process not only to remember the historical pain, courageous struggles, and amazing contributions of Black America, but also to wonder about the relationship between oppression and creativity.
