Cheerful yesterdays

Higginson was a radical member of the Boston Vigilance Committee that plucked captured slave runaways from the hands of sheriffs or Federal Marshalls bent on returning them to Southern masters; he rode with abolitionist riflemen in "Bleeding Kansas;" in 1859 he was one of the "Secret Six" who sponsored John Brown's raid. During the Civil War he was the logical choice to lead the First South Carolina Colored Volunteers; he earned the respect of his black soldiers and under his leadership they soon earned the respect of every military foe or friend they encountered.