North Union Avenue and Grant Circle are closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic for repairs. Entering these construction areas is prohibited. This work is to repair severe weather damage in 2020. The remainder of the park and tour road are open. More
Due to weather related incidents, Vicksburg National Cemetery is closed to vehicular traffic, however it is open to pedestrians. Visitor can park in the adjacent USS Cairo parking lot and walk into the cemetery.
Heroes and Martyrs: Warren County’s African American Men and Women Fight for Equality in 1874
Beth Kruse, Ph.D. Mellon Fellow for the African American Experience in Vicksburg
Remembrance and Wreath Laying Ceremony
Saturday December 7, 2024 at 10 AM
Shirley House, Tour Stop 2 Vicksburg National Military Park
Remembrance Ceremony and Wreath Laying will include music, a libation ceremony, and a wreath laying at the location of some of the key events of December 7, 1874.
The Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi’s Racial Reconciliation Task Force is sponsoring a 150th Anniversary event on Sunday December 8.
A Service of Sacred Remembrance
Sunday December 8 11:00 AM
St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 900 1st North St., Vicksburg MS
Story of the Vicksburg Massacre
The events of the Vicksburg Massacre of 1874 are significant to the history of Vicksburg and national story of the Reconstruction Era. Peter Crosby was elected as first African American Sheriff of Warren County in 1873. Throughout 1874 attempts were made to intimidate him and other African Americans in the area. On December 2, 1874, armed white men with the Taxpayers’ League demanded his resignation. Sheriff Crosby issued requests for aid to restore him to office. On December 7, 1874, African American citizens marched to Vicksburg in support of Sheriff Crosby, however they were intercepted by groups of armed white men. In the ensuing violence of that day and the weeks after, approximately 23 African Americans were killed throughout Warren County. Reports of violence lasted until around Christmas Day. Black men hid out in the woods until the end of the month/year. Federal troops were sent to Vicksburg and Sheriff Crosby was reinstated.
Racial troubles continued in Vicksburg through 1875 and beyond. A congressional hearing was held on the massacre. Sheriff Crosby was shot in the face in June 1875 and further violence occurred targeting African Americans on July 5, 1875.
The location of homes on Old Jackson Road, which are now park land, including the Shirley House, were sites of racial violence during the Massacre. The Shirley House will serve as the location for the Remembrance Ceremony and Wreath Laying on December 7.
Encampment of the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry.
NPS
The Cavalry is Coming! Explore an Immersive Encampment of the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry.
Friday, June 7, 2024 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Saturday, June 8, 2024 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Vicksburg National Military Park and the Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park & Campaign will host a unique immersive educational experience by living historians with Buffalo Soldiers Florida Inc., who depict the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry (USCC.) Come explore a Civil War period cavalry encampment including horses and learn about the honorable service and sacrifices of African American cavalrymen in their fight for freedom during the Civil War.
Schedule of Programming
Friday June 7 and Saturday June 8
9 AM: Bugle call for reveille, flag raising, and inspection of the troops. 9 AM-4 PM: Visitors are encouraged to wander through the camp, ask questions, and listen to the stories 3rd USCC. There will be a video telling the story of unit playing in one of the tents and a display of period and replica weapons used by the unit. 4 PM: Sharps Carbine Firing demonstration and Retreat will be sounded.
Encampment of the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry.
NPS
About the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry
The 3rd United States Colored Cavalry was originally formed in October 1863 at Vicksburg, Mississippi as the 1st Mississippi Cavalry Regiment (African Descent). In March 1864, they were renamed the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry. The unit initially was based in Vicksburg, participating in numerous operations throughout Mississippi and Louisiana including Yazoo City Expedition during 1864. Next, the regiment served near Memphis, Tennessee, including participation in the Battle of Egypt Station, until April 1865, when they returned to Vicksburg for occupation duties. The regiment was mustered out of federal service in January 1866. For more details on the regiment: Battle Unit Details - The Civil War (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
NH 60873 courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command
Tuesday April 9, 2024 at 5:30 pm
In the Visitor Center Theater
Explore the stories of City Class ironclad crews, with a focus African American and immigrant sailors, and how new innovations in digital humanities allow us to tell the stories of those often hardest to find in history.
This program is developed from the Civil War Bluejackets project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council of the UK which seeks to transcribe, using computer learning and AI techniques, based on crowd-sourced citizen science, the muster rolls of over 630 US Navy vessels during the Civil War. The muster rolls, taken on board ship every three months, list the names, age, nativity, occupation, citizenship, height, complexion and hair color of every navy sailor, who was not an officer. They are a treasure trove of information on the diversity of working-class Americans who served in the navy. Particularly interesting are the “City Class” ironclad gunboats of the Mississippi River “Brown Water” Squadron, including Vicksburg National Military Park’s U.S.S. Cairo. Serving on the Mississippi and its tributaries, these vessels recruited from across the United States, but especially from among the recently emancipated men of the lower Mississippi River Valley. For the first time, many formerly enslaved men put their full names on the official record and this project is bringing renewed attention to their stories. Attendees will get a hands-on opportunity to learn how to conduct this research and trace Civil War sailors through military records.
About the Speakers
David T. Gleeson is Professor of American History at Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Damian Shiels, also of Northumbria, is the Post-Doctoral Research Assistant on the Civil War Bluejackets project. For more information: www.civilwarbluejackets.com
Rituals of Remembrance: African American Organizations in Post-Civil War Mississippi
Rituals of Remembrance
University of Mississippi/NPS Photo
Thursday, March 28, 2024 at 5:30PM
At Catfish Row Museum, in downtown Vicksburg
Vicksburg National Military Park and the Catfish Row Museum are co-hosting a special program to explore the African American experience in relation to rituals of remembrance. The program will offer two compelling talks in one evening:
‘In peace we will ever stay’: The National Significance of Deathways in Mississippi’s African-American Fraternal Orders,1870-1930 presented by Jennifer Ford, Ph.D.
Retaining Memories of Battles Fought: African Americans and Memorial Day Commemorations at Vicksburg and Natchez presented by Professor Leigh McWhite, Ph.D.
Event Time:
5:30PM
Location:
Catfish Row Museum
913 Washington St.
Vicksburg, Mississippi 39180
About the Speakers:
Jennifer Ford, Ph.D., Senior Curator of Manuscripts & Professor, has worked at the University of Mississippi since 1998. She received her MA in History and MLS from the University of Southern Mississippi and her Ph.D. in History from the University of Mississippi. She is the author of the 2007 edited work The Hour of Our Nation's Agony and has also published in journals such as The Journal of Mississippi History, The Southern Quarterly, among other publications. She is currently working on a monograph focusing on the history of death and ritual in Mississippi.
Leigh McWhite, Ph.D. is Political Papers Archivist and Associate Professor at the University of Mississippi. The Political Papers Archivist is responsible for managing the political and legal collections in the Modern Political Archives, a unit in the Department of Archives & Special Collections. These duties include organizing and describing the collections, determining preservation needs, assisting in the acquisition of new materials, working with researchers, and conducting outreach via presentations, exhibits, and a web presence.
“Considerable Obstinacy”: The Origins of the 11th Louisiana Infantry, African Descent
Considerable Obstinacy Program
Isaiah Tadlock
Saturday, March 16, 2024 11 AM-12 PM
The 11th Louisiana Infantry, (African Descent) formally organized as part of the U.S. Army, in May 1863. Within weeks of their enlistment, the 11th LA Inf. (A.D.) successfully defended themselves and the Mississippi River landing from an attack by Texas Confederate forces. Although the 11th LA Inf. (A.D.) was comprised of men who recently self-manumitted themselves from nearby plantations, their military records indicate many of the U.S. soldiers were born in other “slave states” and transported south as part of the U.S. domestic slave trade. Their records also reveal the diversity of skills obtained during their enslavement, noting some were highly skilled craftsman. The valor displayed by the 11th LA Inf. (A.D.) at Milliken’s Bend was a pivotal moment in the Civil War, demonstrating to the world the African American U.S. soldiers’ ability and determination to fight for their “Freedom.”
Join us in discovering more about the origins, successes, and sacrifices of the 11th LA Inf. (A.D.) in the Civil War era.
Location:
Visitor Center Theater
Vicksburg National Military Park
3201 Clay Street
Vicksburg, MS 39183
Isaiah Tadlock
Isaiah Tadlock
About the Speaker
Isaiah Tadlock is an amateur genealogist and an adjunct professor of history at Lone Star College in Houston, Texas. He has researched the battle of Milliken’s Bend and the regiments that fought it since 2011. Mr. Tadlock's is currently working on a book concerning this research.
Say Their Name: Massacre at Ross Landing Remembrance
Saturday February 17, 2024 - 12:00-1:00 PM
On February 17, Vicksburg National Military Park will host a special remembrance ceremony Say Their Name for the African American soldiers killed at Ross Landing in Chicot County Arkansas on February 14, 1864. Recent scholarship has revealed their names and burial locations so that 160 years later we can honor their sacrifice in their fight for freedom.
Members of the William “Bill” Sims Foundation will be conducting a remembrance and libation ceremony to honor the memory of the men massacred at Ross Landing. William “Bill” Sims was a member of the U.S. Colored Troops and fought at the Battle of Milliken’s Bend during the Siege of Vicksburg.
Blood Money: From the Freedman’s Bank to Liberty Bank
The Legacy of Vicksburg’s Black Banks
Saturday, November 4, 2023 12-1:30 PM
Shennette Garrett-Scott
The opening of the Vicksburg Freedman’s Bank in 1865 and its failure less than a decade later played a critical role in the struggle for freedom and economic justice in Vicksburg, a legacy that stretches from the Civil War to the present day. Come learn more about the role of USCT soldiers and officers in this important chapter of Vicksburg history and ways to use Freedman’s Bank and Black banking records for family and local community research.
An entrance pass will not be required to join the program in the Visitor Center, however an entrance pass will still be required to access the tour road.
Location:
Visitor Center Theater
Vicksburg National Military Park
3201 Clay Street
Vicksburg, MS 39183
Shennette Garrett-Scott
Shennette Garrett-Scott
About the Speaker:
Shennette Garrett-Scott is committed to telling little-known stories of African American enterprise and activism. Considered one of the country’s foremost experts in Black business history, she’s the author of the multiple award-winning book Banking on Freedom. She is Associate Professor of History & Africana Studies and Gibbons Professor in the College of Liberal Arts at Tulane University.
