Interpreting the Long Road to Freedom: Black Civil War Experiences in the Shenandoah Valley

An aerial view of the Shenandoah Valley, which the heritage trail will wind through.

NPS

Recipient: Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation

Amount: $74,000

African Americans have played a pivotal role in shaping the history and culture of our nation, yet the stories of Black individuals and communities remain underrepresented in our shared narratives. When the Civil War came to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in 1862, generations of free and enslaved African Americans had shaped the course of history: As the war raged through the Valley, many Black residents took new steps and blazed new paths on their long road to freedom. Some, like Thomas Laws, operated as spies for the Union army, observing and delivering crucial information on Confederate forces throughout the Valley’s terrain. Others liberated themselves and traveled north to join U.S. Colored Troops to continue their fight for freedom on southern battlefields. And still others remained at home in the Valley, where their struggle for full citizenship persevered beyond the war and the constitutional end of slavery with ratification of the 13th amendment, in independent communities that were vibrant centers of Black life into the next century.

Through a Battlefield Interpretation Grant awarded by the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation will highlight the history and contributions of the region’s 19th-century Black communities along the Long Road to Freedom, a region-wide trail that integrates traditional waysides with innovative digital resources to weave African American experiences more tightly into Civil War history.

Battlefield Interpretation Grants from the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program empower preservation partners nationwide to modernize and enhance battlefield interpretation – to inspire wonder, understanding and empathy at the places that witnessed some of our nation’s most challenging events. In addition, the program administers three other grants: Battlefield Land Acquisition, Preservation Planning, and Battlefield Restoration Grants. This financial assistance generates community-driven stewardship of historic resources at the state, tribal and local levels.

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Check out the American Battlefield Protection Program's website for more information about various grant offerings and eligibility.

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