“Historical Society program will help us all move forward”

Editorial in The Natchez Democrat
Published Wednesday, May 15, 2024, on page 4A

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Dr. Ariela Gross is a distinguished professor of Law and prolific writer

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The Natchez Historical Society is so fortunate to have Dr. Ariela Gross as the guest speaker for its May 28 meeting. She will speak about “Erasing Slavery – How Stories of Slavery and Freedom (in Natchez) Shape Battles Over the Constitution,” which is the topic of her forthcoming book.

Gross is a distinguished professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law. Come out to hear her presentation. The program will begin with a social at 5:30 p.m. and her presentation at 6 p.m. at the Historic Natchez Foundation at 108 S. Commerce St., in Natchez. It is free and open to the public. Members and Non-members are invited.

Gross is the author of the following titles:

“Becoming Free, Becoming Black: Race, Freedom, and Law in Cuba, Virginia, and Louisiana” with Alejandro de la Fuente” (Cambridge University Press, 2020)

“What Blood Won’t Tell: A History of Race on Trial in America” (Harvard University Press, 2008)

“Double Character: Slavery and Mastery in the Antebellum Southern Courtroom” (Princeton University Press, 2000).

Come and bring a friend!

Prince Ibrahima's descendants visit Hartford, Conn.

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The Descendants of Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahima ibn Sori and the Elders from Timbo, Guinea, in West Africa, recently visited Hartford, Conn., the home of Thomas Gallaudet (1787-1851). Gallaudet, the developer of American Sign Language, assisted Ibrahima in raising money for his return home.

Today, (May 16, 2024), the delegation is scheduled to be in Washington, D.C., where Ibrahima briefly stayed and gained the support of President John Quincy Adams.

Mayor Dan Gibson joined the group in Hartford and he plans to be with them in Washington.

A story about the Hartford visit was published Tuesday, May 14, 2024, by the Record-Journal/CT Insider. See the story at this link: 

https://www.ctinsider.com/recordjournal/article/guinea-princess-asd-19454790.php

 

Plans ‘on track’ for 158th Annual Miss-Lou Memorial Day Parade set for Monday, May 27

Sheriff Travis Patten and Rev. Louis Banks named grand marshals

By Roscoe Barnes III, Visit Natchez
Natchez, MS, USA / ListenUpYall.com
May 14, 2024 | 3:24 PM

File photo of the Miss-Lou Memorial Day Parade.
Courtesy of William Terrell/The Bluff City Post
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NATCHEZ, Miss. — Everything is on track for the 158th Annual Miss-Lou Memorial Day Parade, according to Laura Ann Jackson, who chairs the Committee for the Miss-Lou Memorial Day Parade. She said the long-running event will be a memorable experience for local residents and visitors.

“This event is an important part of Natchez and Vidalia history,” Jackson said. “It’s part of our heritage. It’s our way of honoring our military service members, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country.”

The parade will take place on Monday, May 27. It is known for having long lines of participants – sometimes in the hundreds — marching from Vidalia, across the Natchez-Vidalia Bridge, and to the Natchez National Cemetery at 41 Cemetery Road, where a ceremony is held. The site for the ceremony is on the west side of the cemetery overlooking the river front. 

File photo of ceremony at the Miss-Lou Memorial Day Parade.
Courtesy of James Theres
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“This year, we’re going strong and we’re going to have special guests from out of town that include a church group from Chicago,” Jackson said.

Jackson noted this year’s guests will include filmmaker James Theres, the executive producer and director of the film, “The 30th of May” (2016). Theres described the film as the “amazing, untold story of an African American Memorial Day tradition in the Deep South that dates back to the end of the Civil Ward.”

“I look forward to coming back to Natchez and participating in the 30th of May celebration, one of the longest-running, consecutive Memorial Day observances in the country,” said Theres. “It’s a tradition like no other dating back to the end of the civil war.”

Williams Terrell, publisher and editor of The Bluff City Post, has covered the parade for more than 30 years. He said it is an event that “you just have to see.”

“People come from everywhere,” he said. “Some come all the way from Seattle, Washington, to walk over that bridge. That is really something to see and experience.”

This year, Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten and the Rev. Louis Banks, pastor of Union Baptist Church, Vidalia, will serve as grand marshals. Banks is also a member of the American Legion Post 590 in Vidalia, said Jackson.

The ceremony

The ceremony at the cemetery will start at 11 a.m. and will last for one hour. Jackson will serve as the master of ceremonies. The program will feature retired Army Sgt. Linda McClure of Alexandria as the guest speaker. She will be introduced by her husband, retired Army Lt. Col. Jeff McClure.

File photo of marching band at the Miss-Lou Memorial Day Parade.
Courtesy of James Theres
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The Natchez High School AF JROTC will present the colors, followed by Nolan Cubie, who will lead the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. Charlotte Taylor, the assistant director of the Mississippi National Cemetery Complex at Natchez, will give the Welcome.

The program will include solo performances by Mayor Dan Gibson and 2019 Cathedral High School graduate Damira McGruder. Jackson said McGruder is a pre-med biology student at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, where she plans to graduate this year.

A Memorial Day Band musical solo will be presented by Caymond Riley of the Elnora Riley Group in Vidalia.

“The late Ms. Elnora Riley had been part of this program since I was a child,” said Jackson. “She was a member of the Women’s Relief Corps.”

“Taps” will be performed by Master Sgt. Wilbert Washington, director of the AF JROTC. Taylor will give the Closing Remarks.

Parade route

Jackson outlined the parade route as follows:

The lineup will begin at 8 a.m. at Zion Baptist Church at 601 Magnolia Street in Vidalia. At 9 a.m., the parade will start at the foot of the Louisiana side of the bridge. It will proceed across the bridge to the Natchez Visitor Center at 640 S. Canal St., where the  participants will stop for a 30-minute break.

File photo of the Miss-Lou Memorial Day Parade.
Courtesy of William Terrell/The Bluff City Post
(Click on image to enlarge.) 

Shuttles will be available at the Visitor Center and cemetery.

From the Visitor Center, the participants will proceed north on Canal to Franklin Street. At Franklin, they will move along to Pearl Street and from Pearl to Oak Street. From Oak, they will proceed to Maple Street and then travel north to Cemetery Road.

Committee members working with Jackson to organize the procession include Douglas McCallister, Dorothy Sanders, Renard Chatman, and Nathaniel Williams.

For more information, call Laura Ann Jackson at 601-446-9052.

See more at this link: 

https://listenupyall.com/2024/05/14/plans-on-track-for-158th-annual-miss-lou-memorial-day-parade-set-for-monday-may-27/

Dr. Ariela Gross will discuss “Erasing Slavery” at May 28 meeting of Natchez Historical Society

By Roscoe Barnes III, Visit Natchez
Natchez, MS, USA / ListenUpYall.com
May 13, 2024 | 1:30 PM
 

Dr. Ariela Gross, distinguished professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law, will talk about slavery and its impact on the rule of law at the Tuesday, May 28 meeting of the Natchez Historical Society.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Dr. Ariela Gross, distinguished professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law, will talk about slavery and its impact on the rule of law at the Tuesday, May 28 meeting of the Natchez Historical Society.

The meeting is free to the public and will be held at the Historic Natchez Foundation, 108 S. Commerce St., in Natchez. It will begin with a social at 5:30 p.m. and Gross’ presentation at 6 p.m. Gross’ lecture is titled, “Erasing Slavery – How Stories of Slavery and Freedom (in Natchez) Shape Battles Over the Constitution.”

Gross said she has spent a significant amount of time doing research in Natchez.

“Just as monuments and plantation tours have presented a version of history that erased the experience of slavery and Black agency in ending slavery — and as many legislatures are trying to erase slavery and racism from the teaching of US history, the Supreme Court has tried to erase slavery from the memory of the Constitution,” she said.

“By putting slavery in the deep past and portraying freedom as a gift from white people to Black people, they deny the continuing legacies of slavery and the responsibility to redress them,” she noted. “I’m trying to make the connections between the way we are telling these histories in local culture and politics in places like Natchez, and how history is shaping our constitutional law.”

Alan Wolf, who serves as a director of the society and its program chair, said Gross is one of the nation’s most accomplished and respected scholars of legal history.

“Dr. Gross will describe how disputed narratives we tell about slavery and emancipation, for example through monuments, memorials, films, novels, and tourist sites, shape the environment in which Constitutional law is determined,” Wolf said.

As a professor, Gross teaches Contract Law, Constitutional Law, Enslavement and Racialization in U.S. Legal History and other courses on race and legal history. She is “a legal historian whose scholarship focuses on the ways race, racism, and slavery have shaped law, politics, and culture in the Americas,” according to her online bio.

Gross is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Law School. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy at Stanford University. She has served as a visiting professor at Stanford Law School, Tel Aviv University, and Kyoto University, among others.

In addition to being a well-respected professor, Gross is a prolific writer. The list of books that she has authored includes “Becoming Free, Becoming Black: Race, Freedom, and Law in Cuba, Virginia, and Louisiana” with Alejandro de la Fuente” (Cambridge University Press, 2020); “What Blood Won’t Tell: A History of Race on Trial in America” (Harvard University Press, 2008); and “Double Character: Slavery and Mastery in the Antebellum Southern Courtroom (Princeton University Press, 2000).

This program is funded in part by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council, through funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For more information, visit natchezhistoricalsociety.org or call 601-492-3004. Emails may be sent to info@natchezhistoricalsociety.org

 

Interviewed by MPB's Germaine Flood

The MPB Original “Mississippi Antique Showcase” TV program is being filmed in Natchez! Today (May 3, 2024), I had the pleasure of being interviewed for the show by the talented and famous Germaine Flood.
 
Flood is a radio host for Mississippi Public Broadcasting. She is the co-host of MPB’s “Next Stop” and the award-winning co-producer of “Now, You’re Talking with Marshall Ramsey!” She also works with several other radio programs. It was great meeting her in person.

Mississippi 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry returning to Natchez

Re-enactment encampment set for June 13 on the Bluff

By Roscoe Barnes III/Visit Natchez
Natchez, MS, USA / ListenUpYall.com
May 2, 2024 | 9:43 PM 

Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-Clifford M. Boxley is organizing the Civil War encampment of the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry that will take place on Thursday, June 13, at the Bluff. He is pictured in this 2014 tintype photo wearing a 6th Heavy Artillery uniform at the 150th anniversary of the Fort Pillow Massacre in Tennessee that occurred on April 12, 1864.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Re-enactors of Mississippi 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry will ride into Natchez on Thursday, June 13, and set up camp on the Bluff, announced Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-Clifford M. Boxley.

“They will ride into Natchez as the [cavalry] did in October of 1864 on their way down to Woodville, where they defeated the Confederates,” he said.

The 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry program will be held in Natchez for the third time. It was previously held in 2014 and 2018. Boxley said the re-enactors will engage the public and talk about the cavalry’s history during the Civil War. He noted the event is a celebration of history and recognition of the military contributions of African Americans.

The encampment is free and open to the public. It will last from 9-4 p.m. Boxley said the re-enactment is all about education. “We want people to visit the set-up and interact with the re-enactors,” he said. “We want them to see the horses and get educated about the use of weapons, which are replicas.”

Richard Wilder, president of Buffalo Soldiers Florida Inc., said he looks forward to participating in the program.

“It’s very exciting,” he said. “Our mission statement says that we are lecturers of history. We try to share that history as realistically and accurately as possible. Not much is being said or is known about the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry. It is an honor for us to represent this regiment and to be in the same places as our ancestors.”

Boxley believes the colored cavalry, who were also called “Black Horse Soldiers,” have not received the credit that is due to them. The unit came to Natchez on Oct. 3, 1864 before traveling to Woodville, which they reached on Oct. 5, 1864. There, they captured prisoners and supply wagons, and with assistance from the 5th Illinois Cavalry Regiment, they attacked the Confederates who were camping at Bowling Green Plantation, which was owned by Judge Edward McGehee, and forced them to retreat, according to historians.

The cavalry burned the plantation, seized cannons, and captured 41 Confederate soldiers, before heading back to Natchez, according to William A. Dobak, author of “Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops 1862-1867.”

Role-play actors

As for the participants in the Natchez encampment, Boxley said they will include a representative of the Natchez-based 6th Heavy Artillery who joined the cavalry at Kingston, after they defeated the Confederates in Woodville.

In addition to Boxley, the coordinator of Friends of the Forks of the Road Society Inc., participants in the program will include Darrell White, Royal Hill, Danielle Terrell, Jamall McCullen, Jackie Marsaw, all of whom were role-play actors of the Black and Blue Civil War Living History program. For the upcoming program, they will portray important figures of various regiments who accompanied the cavalry.

Boxley said he will portray “the old, enslaved man who showed Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant where to cross over the Mississippi River from the Louisiana side to Bruinsberg where there were good roads to get up behind Vicksburg.”

Wilder will portray Alfred Woods, a former slave who ran away. “When the 3rd U.S. Colored cavalry was formed, he was one of the first to join and he became a spy for the Union Army,” Wilder said.

White will serve as a Union sailor who worked as a crewman on the Union Navy Boat that transported the 3rd U. S. Colored Cavalry and other white Union regiments on their way to Wilkinson County after camping in Natchez.

Hill will portray a Mississippi Marines Brigade fireman on the boat Queen of the West, the flagship of the brigade; Terrell will portray Margaret Wood, wife of the 3rd U. S. Colored Cavalry Scout Alfred Wood; McCullen will portray Carey Blanchard of the 70th Infantry USCT; and Marsaw will appear as Ellen Anderson of Warren County whose property as seized by the Union Cavalry on May 1864.

Re-enactors with Buffalo Soldiers Florida Inc. will ride into Natchez at 8 a.m. Thursday, June 13, as members of the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry. The riders pictured represent A Troop 10th Cavalry regiment. They rode into Bartow, Fla., in 2021, where they honored the May 20, 1865, emancipation of the enslaved in Florida. Three of them will participate in the Natchez event. From left are Corporal Arthur Battles, Trooper Joel Wilder, Trooper Richard Wilder, and First Sergeant H.L. Williams.

Route and activities

Beginning at 8 a.m., on June 13, nine re-enactors, which include seven Black soldiers and two White officers, will ride from the Forks of the Road to the Natchez Bluff.

The troops will ride on St. Catherine Street to N. Dr. M.L.K. Street, where they will turn left and ride to Main Street and turn right. From there, they will ride down Main to Broadway Street and turn right to the encampment site on the Bluff.

The program will begin with the bugle call for reveille at 9 a.m., at which time the flag will be raised. The troops will be inspected and then they will fall out for breakfast.

A re-enactor portraying Colonel Embury D. Osband will demonstrate the loading and firing of civil war era weapons. The program will end with the sound of retreat at 4 p.m., which signals the end of the day.

Boxley said he’s hopeful that local residents and visitors alike will come out for the day’s program. “We invite everyone to come right in. We think they will enjoy the experience and learn a lot about Natchez’s history,” he said.

Boxley said the Civil War re-enactment in Natchez is one of four he initiated that will be held this year. The other sites include Vicksburg National Military Park from June 7-8; the Old Capitol Museum in Jackson from June 10-12; and Claiborne County Fair Grounds in Port Gibson on June 12.

For more information, call Ser Boxley at 601-442-4719.

See more here or by following this link: https://listenupyall.com/2024/05/02/mississippi-3rd-u-s-colored-cavalry-returning-to-natchez/