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Philip Burnham is a free-lance journalist/historian
based on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. His work, which concentrates
on Native American, military, and public history, focuses on bringing
forgotten historical groups to light.
Burnham taught for several years
on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota; has lived and
worked in London, Paris, and Dakar, Senegal; and has lectured publicly
at the invitation of the United States Information Agency in Africa,
traveling to countries as far afield as Madagascar and Nigeria.
He speaks French and Spanish.
In 2005 he was awarded
a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism to research the
story of Indian-owned lands taken by the government for military
purposes during World War II--and never returned. In 2007
the Fund awarded him another grant to investigate the relationship
between Colonial Williamsburg and the local African-American community.
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So Far
from Dixie, Burnham's latest work, is the gripping
tale of five men who were sent to New York's infamous
POW camp, Elmira, and survived to document their stories.
Berry Benson promised that he would escape the prison
under honorable circumstances.
Anthony Keiley charmed Union authorities into
giving him a job at Elmira—and later became
mayor of Richmond, Virginia.
John King refused to build coffins for his fellow
prisoners. Marcus Toney stubbornly stayed in prison
until long after the war had ended. And Frank Wilkeson,
a young Union army volunteer, ended up enduring
the same humiliating punishment meted out to the
prisoners he was guarding-and escaping from Elmira
under threat of court martial.
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