When Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed that one day a man would be judged not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character, he could well have been inspired by William H. Carney, an NALC brother from the 19th century who was the first black to win the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic service in the Civil War.

The founding vice president of New Bedford, Massachusetts Branch 18, William Harvey Carney was a runaway slave who made his way to freedom on the Underground Railroad as a teenager. He was one of the first black letter carriers in the nation and one of the earliest members of the NALC of any race.

On July 18, 1863--almost exactly 100 years before Dr. King's famous "I have a dream" speech in Washington--Carney participated in the suicidal assault on Confederate Fort Wagner near Charleston, South Carolina, by the all- black, all-volunteer 54th Regiment Massachusetts Infantry. The battle is the climax of the 1989 movie "Glory," and Carney's real-life qualities and heroism were woven into several different characters in the film.

In the midst of withering fire, when the first flag-bearer fell, Carney took up the regiment's colors and led his fellow volunteers to the crest of the parapet. There Carney secured the banner in the sand as the battle raged, a living symbol of the courage of the "colored" troops who some skeptics in the north suspected were not brave enough or smart enough to fight for freedom.

When the Federal troops finally fell back after dark, Carney wrapped the Stars and Stripes around the standard and carried the banner back to Union lines, despite wounds to his chest, head and leg--an injury so severe that for more than 30 years he limped every step of the way as he delivered the mail in New Bedford. As he handed the flag over to other survivors of the 54th, he told them, "Boys, I only did my duty. The old flag never touched the ground."

For courageous action, Carney became the first black solider to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. It was a sign of the times that it wasn't until May 23, 1900--more than 36 years after his heroic act--that the medal was officially bestowed.

Out of slavery
William Harvey Carney was born a slave, but a special delivery nonetheless--he arrived on Leap Day, February 29, 1840. Brought up in the environs of Norfolk, Virginia, he was educated at a "secret school" by a local minister, acquiring rudimentary reading and writing skills at the age of 14. Carney and his father escaped slavery separately--the order is not clear--but both arrived in New Bedford and eventually earned enough to buy the rest of the family out of servitude.

Carney worked the docks in New Bedford, a major whaling port, and was seriously considering becoming a preacher until he heard the call for blacks to join the Union Army. He may well have seen one of the newspaper advertisements headlined: "Your Country Calls! One Hundred Colored Men Wanted!" It went on to promise, "The Pay and Rations to be the same as those of any other Massachusetts Regiment."

In a letter to The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper, Carney gave this account of his motivations in joining the 54th. "Previous to the formation of the colored troops, I had a strong inclination to prepare myself for the ministry, but when the country called for all persons, I could best serve my God serving my country and my oppressed brothers. The sequel is short--I enlisted for the war."

Forty-six young blacks from New Bedford volunteered for the 54th Regiment and were all assigned to Company C. Among those who joined up with Carney was Lewis Douglass, son of the famed abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass, who had settled in New Bedford after escaping slavery himself in 1838 and helped make it a hotbed of abolitionist sentiment.

Carney and the elder Douglass almost certainly knew each other-- Douglass was among those who promoted the idea of forming an all-black unit- -and there is direct evidence the younger Douglass kept in touch with the letter carrier. Carl Cruz, great-great-great-grandnephew of Sergeant Carney, who lives in New Bedford and has many family artifacts including Carney's Medal of Honor, has a prize memento of the Douglass connection.

"The soldiers would have reunions, they called them ‘encampments,' and they would drink a little beer at them," a chuckling Cruz told The Postal Record. "I've got a beer bucket with the inscription ‘Presented to Sergeant William H. Carney' and signed by Lewis Douglass. It was presented during the 25th anniversary encampment that was held in Washington," where the Douglass family lived after the war.

Letter carrier career
After recovering from his wounds, Carney went home to New Bedford and worked for a while for a local merchant. He resumed study of the scripture, begun as a slave boy, and was a founder of an early black church in the town. He also served as a long-time deacon in another congregation.
Well respected around town, in 1866 he was appointed superintendent of street lights for the city.

After about two years he decided to try his luck out west and went to California to work for a land company, but returned to New Bedford in 1869 and took a job as a letter carrier. Many early letter carriers were veterans, since appointments often were based on local political connections and it was common for a town's prominent citizens, and often the postmaster himself, to have been Union officers.

There were just four letter carriers in New Bedford at the time of Carney's appointment in 1869. He was the only black. John Curry became the nation's first black letter carrier in 1867, working in Washington, DC, so Carney certainly was among the earliest blacks in the craft.

Carney carried mail for more than 30 years and--just as he had enlisted for the Union cause--the Civil War hero was quick to step forward when mailmen around the nation decided to band together in the National Association of Letter Carriers.

The charter of New Bedford Branch 18, issued March 20, 1890, includes Carney's signature as vice president. In addition to the low branch number, the date makes clear the New Bedford carriers were among the first members of the NALC, which had been founded only seven months before.

In addition to being Branch 18's vice president for one term, Carney was involved in other union activities. The December 1890 Postal Record reports that "Sergt. Carney" was one of four carriers who sang solos during a surprise 35th birthday party for a brother carrier. In the March/April 1891 issue, Carney is listed as a member of the reception committee for "First Annual Letter Carriers Grand Ball," which was attended by 3,500 people!

In 1897, a New Bedford post office hand book includes a photograph of Carney, "Veteran Letter Carrier," immediately following pictures of the local NALC officers. It shows a dapper gentleman in a four-button jacket, with a white goatee and mustache, and a rim of white hair around a balding pate. A contemporary description says he was about 5-foot-8.

Carney, who married Sussannah Williams in 1865, had one daughter, Clara, who never married. Nephew Carl Cruz has devoted considerable time to researching his famous ancestor and has donated family photos to the New Bedford Historical Society. He also has spoken at length with local and national NALC representatives since the connection between Carney and the union was established last year.

Carney frequently spoke of his Civil War experiences in public, both in New Bedford and elsewhere. Accounts suggest he was an effective if not spell- binding speaker, and the story of the assault on Fort Wagner was undoubtedly compelling for his audiences.

After nearly 32 years of service, at the age of 61, Carney retired as a letter carrier. He still needed other work since, although he probably received a small stipend for his war wounds, postal employees had no retirement benefits at all. In 1901, Massachusetts Secretary of State William Olin asked him to take the job of messenger at the State House, which had been held by Lewis Hayden, a famous black abolitionist from Boston.

Carney accepted the post, which involved transporting official documents between the Senate and House chambers and the secretary's office. He held the job until his death on December 8, 1908 as the result of an elevator accident.

As his nephew Carl Cruz recounted it, Carney courteously stepped out of the elevator car in the State House to allow some ladies to exit. Somehow his bad leg--the one crippled by gunfire in the sandy mire of Fort Wagner--became trapped and was mangled. "He was taken to the hospital, but he never recovered. He just wasn't strong enough," Cruz said.

Numerous state officials were among those who crowded into the church for Carney's funeral and as a final tribute, all flags in the Commonwealth were lowered to half staff, the first time that had been done for any citizen, black or white.

William Harvey Carney's amazing life is a reminder of how any man or woman, no matter where they start from or what they look like, can write the history of their time. Sometimes doing so demands extraordinary courage; at others it takes determination. Often, it means placing a higher ideal and service to our fellow men and women--regardless of color, in war or in peace-- paramount.

Letter carrier William Carney might insist, "Boys, I only did my duty." But, looking back, we can see he went far above and beyond, somewhere near the mountaintop that Martin Luther King saw.