Anyone who has ever watched the 1989 epic Glory is familiar with the heroic feats of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. And if, for some reason, you are reading this but haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend that you do. 

The “54th,” as they were known, was the brainchild of Massachusetts Gov. John Andrew. The regiment formed due to Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, issued on Jan. 1, 1863. A month later, the military unit began recruiting. Andrew arranged for Robert Gould Shaw to be the unit’s commanding officer, and he was given the regiment’s colonelcy. Recruitment efforts were viral, with over 1,000 black men enlisting their services. This included the two sons of noted abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Additionally, nearly a quarter of all volunteers for the 54th came from slave states.