but i do have some familiarity with what is going on in africa right now, in liberia, because i have had many opportunities to speak with those who were at one time in favor of colonization, as i was. and there continues to be intercourse between the tribal groups around liberia with any -- and many of them are the mohammed and -- mohammedan nations, who trade in these poor black victims with other black tribes in africa. now, of course, before some of the international barriers were enforced against the slave trades, and which the united states finally joined, european powers were participating as well. and there are still -- we have had in the last four years some that are participating in legally in the slave trade. but it is a multifaceted trade and it has gone back for eons. the children of israel were slaves in egypt, as we all recall. how about this young soul back here in the glacier? -- the gray shirt. speak loudly. >> where did you learn how to write? lincoln: back when i was in the log cabin, i would see the letters in the book and get a stick and draw on the dirt floor of

but i do have some familiarity with what is going on in africa right now, in liberia, because i have had many opportunities to speak with those who were at one time in favor of colonization, as i was. and there continues to be intercourse between the tribal groups around liberia with any -- and many of them are the mohammedan nations, who trade in these poor black victims with other black tribes in africa. now, of course, before some of the international barriers were enforced against the slave trades, and which the united states finally joined, european powers were participating as well. and there are still -- we have had in the last four years some that are participating in illegally from this country in the slave trade. but it is a multifaceted trade and it has gone back for eons. the children of israel were slaves in egypt, as we all recall. how about this young soul back here in the gray shirt? speak loudly. >> where did you learn how to write? lincoln: back when i was in the log cabin, i would see the letters in the book and get a stick and draw on the dirt floor of our little

in liberia, for example. liberia -- post-war liberia elected africa's first female president. south africa has one of the most gender sensitive constitutions of the world. in another example, maybe kenya, after the election violence of 2007, in 2008 women were able to make sure that in the constitutions there were provisions safeguarding their rights. so in all of these post conflict/reconstruction environments, women's movements and women's civil society organizations have grabbed the opportunities that these conflicts presented. and they have used them to their advantage. now, also, that's one reason for that is because during conflicts, women assume more nontraditional roles outside of the household as gender norms change and the war basically -- destructs traditional or social structures. now one of the main questions i would like to ask is do we need -- how do we make sure that women's movements gain momentum in times of peace? or maybe another way to ask the question is, do we need a conflict in order for women's leadership to gain momentum? so in my opinion, the structu

african-americans, some of them went back to liberia, which was a country that had been created for them with the idea of them going back to their native lands to reestablish colonies there. it was not very successful. only about 4000 african-americans went there. a much larger number went to kansas after reconstruction, about 15,000, to establish life on farms there in kansas. some of the soldiers also became mercenaries or worked for other armies. in egypt, a lot of them went to join fighting their -- there. some of the coats show alterations that soldiers made after the war. this one has buttons covered and shows no insignia. u.s. army regulations required of them to remove any insignia and military buttons if they were going to continue to wear them. other modifications we see to things, to coats, there were shortages in the south. clothing was very valuable. this is one example where a woman has taken her husband's coat and cut it down to make an overcoat for her son to where. this is our wall of faces that shows nearly 100 men and women and tells their stories on the screens. what

african-americans, some of them went back to liberia, which was a country that had been created for them with the idea of them going back to their native lands and to re-establishing colonies there. it was not very successful. and only about 4,000 african-americans went there. a much larger number of them were known as exo dusters and they went to kansas after reconstruction. about 15,000 of them, to establish life on the farms there in kansas. some of the soldiers also became mercenaries or worked for other armys. notably in egypt, a lot of them went to join the fighting that was there. some of the coats that we have in our collection show some of the all the rags has the soldiers made to them after the war. this one has some buttons covered and shows no insignia. the u.s. army regulations required them to remove any insignia and their military buttons from their coats if they were going to continue to wear them. other modification that we see to things that were done to the soldiers' coats, there were shortages that were still happening in the south so clothing was very valuable. this

those were two big places sending letters in 1865, but also letters from hawaii morocco, egypt, liberia, india japan, china. this really is a global undertaking. the country with the greatest volume of letters was great britain. if you include the brit itch empire as a whole, they sent 437 documents, which is almost 40% of the total. wherever they came from, the letters tended to be written by political leaders. presidents, heads of states. also from local political officials, town managers and that kind of thing. but there are lots and lots of letters from ordinary people as well, groups of people who got together. they referred to themselves as the citizens of this town, residents of this city sometimes used phrases like the working men wherever. they came from trade organizations, religious groups, fraternal orders and anti-slavery societies as well not surprisingly. what did the letters say? first and foremost, the one common theme that runs through them all is that they were all expressions of sympathy, of condolence for mary lincoln and u.s. government and the american people as a

don't know, i would say over the past ten years, for example, in west africa, we've had conflicts in liberia, in mali, in sierra leone, and not even once was there a woman who was sent as a mediator. it was only this long-serving presidents. i'm sure there are qualified women out there. so when you said marrying policy and practices, i like it. it's really -- that's the issue. so it's nice to be talking about women's participation. but how do you make it happen. >> good comment. i think you've provoked a good set of questions. i think people should go to the microphone and then we'll take them in order. please. >> good afternoon. my name is allison shapira. i teach public speaking and presentation skills with a special focus on helping women around the world find their voice and their courage to speak up. and so my question for the panel is, what specific skills do you think women need to learn in the process of being empowered in order to drive are the region forward? thank you. >> jackie, you work a lot on that. you want to start on that? >> you know, i -- confidence isn't a skill but it i