What Thavolia Glymph suggested is already happening in Kentucky. For many years now, the Perryville Battlefield tour has included Sleettown, the site of a community of freed people that grew up on the actual battlefield after the war and survived into the Great Depression. Not so far away is Camp Nelson, which grew into a major recruiting station for African American soldiers and a flawed refuge for their families. Both are well worth visiting.
Professor Glymph's essay calls to mind that nearly two decades ago, civic activists opposing the condo-ization of Fort Monroe at Point Comfort called for help from the American Battlefield Trust, which then had a different name. Mr. Lightizer could've told us, "Well, look, we just do battlefields." But he didn't. And his people didn't. You could see the process as they thought about it. They came to recognize that slavery was the issue that generated the battles in the first place, and that Fort Monroe at Point Comfort had not just special, but unique, importance in that history--even though it had only indirect connections to combat.
And I like this excerpt from her essay: "I imagine that there will come a time when the battleground on which Black people fought will be seen as hallowed ground not for magnolia and mint julep fantasies but for understanding the part they played in the making of a new birth of freedom, an idea that a review in the Georgia Historical Quarterly in 1939 termed 'an absurd bit of propaganda, based on a perversion of historical facts.'" I'm going to make a point of finding that grotesque example of crediting the victory of emancipation solely to the "hand of constituted authority" and zero to the "hand of ordinary people," to use Ira Berlin's contrast.
ALSO: She emphasizes refugee camps. That's related to Fort Monroe too. This year's top 10 endangered historic sites list just came out from Preservation Virginia. It includes the gravesites in the part of Hampton where the Grand Contraband Camp was--a landscape linked to Freedom's Fortress at Fort Monroe.
I’ve visited both sites and they’re worth visiting as you say. I’m very interested in this topic and am wondering how Dr Glymph’s vision could be realized. I assume most of these places are currently private property and that attempting some kind of historical interpretation would require significant monetary investment?
Good point. It is important to recognize that these changes can already be seen at various places. I would also throw into the mix the work that Chris Barr and his team are doing in Beaufort, SC at Reconstruction Era National Park.
What Thavolia Glymph suggested is already happening in Kentucky. For many years now, the Perryville Battlefield tour has included Sleettown, the site of a community of freed people that grew up on the actual battlefield after the war and survived into the Great Depression. Not so far away is Camp Nelson, which grew into a major recruiting station for African American soldiers and a flawed refuge for their families. Both are well worth visiting.
Professor Glymph's essay calls to mind that nearly two decades ago, civic activists opposing the condo-ization of Fort Monroe at Point Comfort called for help from the American Battlefield Trust, which then had a different name. Mr. Lightizer could've told us, "Well, look, we just do battlefields." But he didn't. And his people didn't. You could see the process as they thought about it. They came to recognize that slavery was the issue that generated the battles in the first place, and that Fort Monroe at Point Comfort had not just special, but unique, importance in that history--even though it had only indirect connections to combat.
And I like this excerpt from her essay: "I imagine that there will come a time when the battleground on which Black people fought will be seen as hallowed ground not for magnolia and mint julep fantasies but for understanding the part they played in the making of a new birth of freedom, an idea that a review in the Georgia Historical Quarterly in 1939 termed 'an absurd bit of propaganda, based on a perversion of historical facts.'" I'm going to make a point of finding that grotesque example of crediting the victory of emancipation solely to the "hand of constituted authority" and zero to the "hand of ordinary people," to use Ira Berlin's contrast.
ALSO: She emphasizes refugee camps. That's related to Fort Monroe too. This year's top 10 endangered historic sites list just came out from Preservation Virginia. It includes the gravesites in the part of Hampton where the Grand Contraband Camp was--a landscape linked to Freedom's Fortress at Fort Monroe.
Thanks for tipping me to the Glymph essay.
I’ve visited both sites and they’re worth visiting as you say. I’m very interested in this topic and am wondering how Dr Glymph’s vision could be realized. I assume most of these places are currently private property and that attempting some kind of historical interpretation would require significant monetary investment?
Good point. It is important to recognize that these changes can already be seen at various places. I would also throw into the mix the work that Chris Barr and his team are doing in Beaufort, SC at Reconstruction Era National Park.
https://www.nps.gov/reer/index.htm