Forks of the Road features new history exhibits

Natchez National Historical Park has added new panels at the Forks of the Road slave market site, using U.S. Colored Troops pension records to share stories of enslaved people and the market’s destruction.

By Roscoe Barnes III 

The Natchez Democrat

August 7, 2026

Jeff Mansell, lead historian at Natchez National Historical Park, stands next to the new location sign at the Forks of the Road site. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Natchez National Historical Park has installed new interpretive wayside panels at the Forks of the Road slave market site. Drawing on U.S. Colored Troops pension records, the panels share the stories of formerly enslaved people recruited there between 1863 and 1865 and recount how African American soldiers helped dismantle the slave market structures to construct army barracks.

 
The panels replace earlier displays that had deteriorated. The new panels were installed in July 2026, shortly before the Julyteenth celebration.
 
A new, larger, identity sign featuring the National Park Service arrowhead now stands on the south side of the site.
 
Jeff Mansell, historian for the Natchez National Historical Park, said the new content was drawn directly from the pension applications filed by former U.S. Colored Troops veterans, their widows, and their children.
 
“Most of them specifically reference the Forks of the Road - either being trafficked there, or visiting their husband, son or veteran there in the regimental barracks or the hospital which were located there on the site,” Mansell said. “We intentionally looked for records that specifically mentioned the Forks of the Road. We wanted to highlight experiences that took place on the site itself.”
 
Mansell drafted the text on all the panels. Stephanie Metzler, graphic designer with the Southeast Region of the National Park Service, created the background images for the wayside panels.
 
Wayside panels
 
One panel, “Pressing Their Claim,” uses pension records to tell the heart-felt story of Elzira Bright:
 
“I was born in Richmond, Madison County, Kentucky and I belonged to a man named Allen Anderson. My father was Hickman Hickenbottem and my mother was Minerva and we all belonged to the same man. I was sold to a negro trader when I was 19 years old and he brought me to Natchez with a gang of a hundred head and I was sold at the forks of the road to Faultneroy of Jefferson County and lived on his place until the war came.
 
“His place was counted 16 miles from Natchez, Mississippi. Allen Lewis came from Boyle County, Ky. And the same trader, Dick White, brought us down in the same gang. I was taken from Richmond to Lexington, Ky. And there I met up with Allen Lewis and we were brought to Natchez together and sold to Frank Faultneroy and taken to his place in the Church Hill community.”
 
Mansell noted: “Elzira Bright’s account is similar to many who were trafficked in the domestic slave trade. A trader transported her from Kentucky to Natchez alongside a group of one hundred people, including her future husband. Though her story represents countless others sold at the Forks of the Road market, Elzira Bright stands apart because we know her name and fate.”
 
Bright was approved to receive her husband’s pension in 1903.
 
The earlier panels were created by Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-C. M. Boxley and the Friends of the Forks of the Road. Mansell said the National Park Service initially funded the site’s large four-panel kiosk in 2005, which it has now refurbished.
 
Mansell said the new wayside panels were funded by the park with “generous assistance” from its philanthropic partners: the National Park Foundation and the Trust for Public Land.
 
These partners also helped the park acquire Freedom Hall, formerly the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, at 105 Devereaux Drive on the east side of the Forks of the Road site. On July 12, 2026, the park held its first program at the site that featured a presentation by Mansell titled, “Julyteenth: When Freedom Came to Natchez.”
 
“Freedom Hall will eventually serve as the visitor contact station at the site, where a ranger or guide will be there,” Mansell said. “We hope to have a film, and there will be more extensive exhibits on site for visitors to experience.”

Lead Historian Jeff Mansell points to a historic photograph featured on a new interpretive panel in the free-standing kiosk at the Forks of the Road site. (Click on image to enlarge.)

 

Free-standing kiosk
 
Other new features include history panels displayed in the free-standing kiosk. One section, titled, “Leveled to the Ground,” describes how the slave market site came to an end.
 
The panel notes:
 
“The last sales at the Forks happened in early 1863, just months before the U.S. Army occupied Natchez that July. The arrival of Federal troops brought freedom to the tens of thousands of enslaved people in the Natchez District. Freedpeople (persons recently released from slavery) flocked into town from the surrounding countryside. Many settled here at the Forks near an encampment of African American soldiers, known as the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT).
 
“In the fall, soldiers stationed in Natchez were given orders to tear down the slave pens at Forks of the Road. Men of the newly created 58th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment willingly joined the efforts. With some poetic justice, African American soldiers who had previously been enslaved and sold as property at Forks of the Road carried out the physical destruction of the slave market.”
 
The panel includes the image of a letter published in the Milwaukee Sentinel describing the event.
 
The Forks of the Road was the second largest slave market in the Deep South during the antebellum period. The first part of the 18-acre site was donated to the National Park Service in 2021. Mansell said plans for the site’s long-term development are underway, though no final decisions have been made. He said land acquisition is continuing.
 

Armand Saiia featured in Mississippi Business Journal

(Click on image to enlarge.)

I'm happy to congratulate my friend, Armand, on being featured in the August 2026 issue of the Mississippi Business Journal! He has an impressive two-page spread. Well deserved! 

VIDEO: Dr. Robert Field Jr., veterinarian-turned wildlife photographer, is ArtsNatchez’s Artist of the Month for August!

Join us this Saturday, August 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the ArtsNatchez Gallery, 425 Main Street, to meet Robert in person and view his stunning wildlife photography.

In this short video, Robert talks about his 25-year hobby behind the camera.

Enjoy the video, then come see the photographs for yourself!

Veterinarian-turned wildlife photographer named ArtsNatchez Artist of the Month

By Roscoe Barnes III
Natchez, MS, USA / ListenUpYall.com
Aug 5, 2026 | 12:49 PM

Dr. Robert Field Jr., ArtsNatchez's Artist of the Month for August, displays one of his featured wildlife photographs depicting a great egret returning to the nest as her chicks await. The image is among several of Field's photographs on display at the ArtsNatchez Gallery in downtown Natchez. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Dr. Robert Field Jr. is a veterinarian-turned-wildlife photographer whose love of nature and photography has landed him in some dangerous places.

One late afternoon during the early fall of 2017, Field was near his home in Jonesville, Louisiana, and walking through thick brush with his focus on a horned owl.
“I had him in my sights,” he recalled.

Then he took a step and felt something beneath his foot. He looked down and saw a copperhead. He jumped. “I tried to get as much air as I could,” he said, grinning.

The snake crawled away without striking.

Field said he’s found himself too close for comfort with snakes about 10 times.

“I’ve been lucky,” he said, noting he wears snake boots for protection. “This happens a lot when I’m trying to shoot birds because I’m looking up in trees, and I tend to not look at the ground as much as I need to. Copperheads are the hardest (to see) because they’re camouflaged.”

Field is ArtsNatchez Gallery’s Artist of the Month for August. His photography will be on display Saturday, August 8, at the gallery at 425 Main St. He will greet visitors during a free reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

Field is a resident of Jonesville, Louisiana. Before retiring, he practiced veterinary medicine for 35 years. Photography has been his hobby for 25 years.

A graduate of Delta State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology, Field completed his doctorate at Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine.

Love of nature

Field said his photography is “absolutely” informed by his training as a veterinarian.

Over the years, he kept a log on the migration of birds. “In this context, behavioral knowledge is more important than anatomical knowledge,” he said. “You get into a rhythm with them, and you learn what they tolerate in terms of noise and space when you’re in their habitat.”

Field’s interest in the camera began with his two children. He would take them out into nature and different wildlife reserves. He used his camera to document their experiences, and it eventually turned into a hobby. His cameras of choice are the Nikon D850 and D500.

Field’s exhibition will feature wildlife photographs from across the region, including scenes from Gilliard Lake in St. Catherine Creek, an alligator resting on a log, birds in several rookeries, a silhouette at Catahoula Lake in Louisiana, and a pileated woodpecker feeding its young.

Field said some of the photos were taken near his home in Jonesville, Louisiana, such as the alligator and butterflies. Included in the exhibit is a dramatic photograph of young ospreys leaving the nest in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.

“I travel to different places at different times of the year when the animals are more prevalent to photograph,” Field said. “What I enjoy most is that I get to see and experience much more than what I photograph. Just the peace and serenity from just getting out in nature. Photography is the second-hand perk from the process. I grew up in nature, out in the woods.”

Half million ducks

One of Field’s favorite places to photograph is Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge during the winter, when roughly half a million ducks gather there. The bald eagles migrate down with the ducks and hunt them, he said.

“When you see a large group of the ducks flying, they just explode, and you look above them, there are bald eagles, and they’re hunting,” he said.

Field said the main photo in his display will be of the ducks flying.

Still, Field noted, wildlife photography can be both dangerous and challenging.

“As a photographer, you tend to look up or out. I had a few close calls with snakes. The alligators are not as aggressive as people think, if you keep a decent distance. I keep my eye on the big ones. Don’t let them get too close.”

As for challenges, weather is an issue. “You just never know what to expect when you go out in nature. I grew up hunting, but this is a lot harder than hunting. You can get the perfect shot of something, but you still have to get the lighting right and the angle right,” Field said.

Bald eagles

When Field thinks about the early days of his photography, he’s reminded of an incident with his children when he urged them to look up at some bald eagles nearby.

“We were out at the Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge, and there were some bald eagles. They locked talons and were falling through the sky until they almost hit the ground. That’s one of their mating rituals.

Field’s children were eight and six, and they were sword fighting with sticks. Field yelled, “Look, look, you will probably never see this again!”

But instead of looking up at the eagles, his daughter, Bona, cried, “Daddy, Ben just hit me with a stick!”Interestingly, children are drawn to Field’s work. “Most of the children run to the alligator picture,” he said. “They are fascinated with it. People from other countries are fascinated with American alligators.”

Field said he has always tried to encourage young people to go out into nature and get away from their mobile devices.

ArtsNatchez Gallery is open daily at 10 a.m. For more information, call 601-442-0043.

 

Natchez’s Greg Iles and Ser Boxley featured in Mississippi Encyclopedia

By Roscoe Barnes III
Natchez, MS, USA / ListenUpYall.com
Jul 31, 2026 | 1:28 PM

Author Greg Iles, left, and historian and preservationist Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-C.M. Boxley, both of Natchez, are featured in the Mississippi Encyclopedia. Photos courtesy of Mississippi Encyclopedia. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. — Greg Iles and Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-C. M. Boxley, both of Natchez, are featured in the Mississippi Encyclopedia, and their entries are spotlighted on the publication’s homepage.

Iles was a New York Times bestselling author whose acclaimed thrillers and mysteries were often set in and around Natchez. His works include “The Quiet Game,” “Turning Angel,” “The Devil’s Punchbowl,” “Natchez Burning,” and “Southern Man,” among others.

Iles was a friend and admirer of Stanley Nelson, the longtime editor of the Concordia Sentinel and author of “Devils Walking,” a book chronicling Ku Klux Klan violence in Southwest Mississippi during the 1960s. Iles drew inspiration from Nelson’s career in journalism.

Following Nelson’s death on June 5, 2025, at age 69, Iles published a moving tribute describing him as a “genuine hero” who always did the right thing regardless of fear or favor. Iles wrote that Nelson’s “brave and tireless work” inspired him to model Henry Sexton, the heroic journalist in his Natchez trilogy, after Nelson.

Iles won the 2015 Barry Award for Best Novel for “Natchez Burning” and received the Mississippi Author Award for Fiction for his 1995 thriller “Black Cross.”

Iles died of cancer on August 15, 2025. He was 65. His Mississippi Encyclopedia entry was written by Riley Moran of Tampa, Florida.

Boxley is a local historian, preservationist, and civil rights activist who worked with the Natchez Deacons for Defense and Justice during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

He serves as coordinator of the Friends of the Forks of the Road Society and is known for his decades-long efforts to promote and preserve the history of the Forks of the Road slave market at 105 Liberty Road. The site, now managed by the National Park Service, was once the second-largest slave market in the Deep South.

In March 2026, Boxley donated his Forks of the Road exhibition to the Southwest Mississippi Center for Culture & Learning at Alcorn State University, Lorman Campus.

That same month, the Natchez Historical Society honored him with its Historic Preservation Award, which recognizes individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions to historic preservation or the study of history in the Natchez area.

Boxley’s Mississippi Encyclopedia entry was written by Roscoe Barnes III, cultural heritage tourism manager for Visit Natchez.

The Mississippi Encyclopedia is published by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi and has been funded by the Mississippi Humanities Council.

The entries on Iles and Boxley may be viewed at https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/

 

Mayor Gibson proclaims Julyteenth as Natchez’s Day of Freedom

by Mississippi Monitor | Jul 13, 2026 | Capital/River
By Roscoe Barnes III, Ph.D., Visit Natchez

Mayor Dan Gibson issued a proclamation on Monday, July 13, on the front steps of City Hall recognizing Julyteenth — the day freedom came to Natchez with the arrival of the Union Army on July 13, 1863. Pictured (front row, left to right): Thelma Newsom, Alderwoman Valencia Hall, Mayor Dan Gibson, Chesney Doyle, and Vel Robinson. Second row (left to right): historian Jeff Mansell, Norma West, and the Rev. Clifton Marvel Sr. Back row (left to right): Joseph A.C. Smith and Roscoe Barnes III. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Mayor Dan Gibson presented a proclamation Monday officially recognizing July 13 as Julyteenth, the day freedom for enslaved people came to Natchez with the arrival of the Union Army on July 13, 1863.
 
“This is a very special day,” Gibson said during a ceremony on the front steps of City Hall. “Many of our citizens may not understand the significance of July 13, (but) the day is sacred in the history of our city.”
 
The term Julyteenth was coined by Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-C. M. Boxley, local historian, cultural preservationist, and coordinator of Friends of the Forks of the Roads Society.
 
Nationally, Juneteenth is celebrated as a day of independence and federal holiday observed annually on June 19. It commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, bringing news of freedom to enslaved African Americans there.
 
In Natchez, freedom came sooner. It came when Union forces arrived on July 13, 1863, nine days after the fall of Vicksburg.
 
“It was on this day that the Union Army offloaded at Natchez Under the Hill, and the U.S. 11th Illinois Regiment Infantry marched up Silver Street and began the occupation of Natchez,” Boxley said in a 2024 interview. “July 13 is when the Union Army seized control of Natchez and prompted thousands of enslaved people to begin fleeing plantations and travel to Natchez, where they found freedom behind the Union lines.”
 
While reading the proclamation, Gibson described Julyteenth as one of the most important days in Natchez’s history. The proclamation states that Union troops “arrived to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, bringing freedom to thousands of enslaved men, women, and children whose descendants remain an important part of the fabric of our community today – nearly two years before the events commemorated by Juneteenth in Galveston, Texas.”
 
The proclamation furthers acknowledges that slavery was a profound moral evil that denied the God-given dignity of human life. It notes that Natchez played a prominent role in the slave-based economy and was home to the Forks of the Road, the second largest slave market in the Deep South.
 
Because of the Union Army occupation, Natchez eventually became a place of refuge and beacon of hope, Gibson said, noting that many formerly enslaved people claimed liberty and began new lives as free citizens.
 
The proclamation also recognizes that during this period, Forks of the Road “was transformed into a place of purpose as newly freed men answered the call to serve in the United States Colored Troops, demonstrating extraordinary courage in the pursuit of liberty, justice, and the preservation of our nation.”
 
While still reading from the proclamation, Gibson said Julyteenth is about honoring the “resilience, determination, and enduring spirit of those who endured unimaginable hardship.”
 
He said the city recognizes with gratitude that the labor of enslaved people helped build Natchez and the state of Mississippi, as well as the nation. He said it is also important that this history be known and remembered by future generations.
 
Gibson called on residents not only to remember the sins of the past but also to celebrate the progress that has been made.
 
“May ‘Julyteenth Day’ forever be a day where freedom and equality are embraced, and where love heals the divisions of yesterday, allowing us to embrace the opportunities of today and tomorrow,” Gibson said.
 
Monday’s proclamation followed a weekend of Julyteenth commemorative, including a re-enactment by Jamal McCullan of Hiram Rhodes Revels’ speech Friday evening at Zion Chapel A.M.E. Church; a workshop on history, race, and racial reconciliation led by the Rev. Dr. Dorothy Sanders Wells on Saturday at Trinity Episcopal Church; and a wreath-laying ceremony Sunday at Forks of the Road. The weekend concluded with
 
The weekend concluded with historian Jeff Mansell of Natchez National Historical Park presenting “When Freedom Came to Natchez” at Freedom Hall, the former home of a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
 
In addition to the City of Natchez, the events were organized by Kathleen Bond, superintendent of the Natchez National Historical Park; Joseph A.C. Smith, founder of BlackNatchez.org and owner of 1720 Gallery & Gift Shop; and Malcolm Innis, New Vision Broadcasting.

ArtsNatchez Gallery celebrates the nation’s 250th anniversary

Special patriotic exhibit set for Saturday, July 11, in downtown Natchez

By Roscoe Barnes III

Natchez, MS, USA / ListenUpYall.com
Jul 9, 2026 | 3:43 PM

ArtsNatchez Gallery Director Leon Hollins showcases Carolyn Terry's "Red, White and Blue" photograph, part of the collection that will be featured Saturday at the downtown gallery. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Like communities across the United States, ArtsNatchez Gallery will celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary with a special patriotic- themed art exhibit on Saturday, July 11, at 425 Main Street. The reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. and is free to the public. Refreshments will be served.

“We’re inviting all of our artists to participate,” said Gallery Director Leon Hollins. “We’re asking them to showcase their work using the colors red, white, and blue. We’re expecting to have photographs, banners, and paintings, and other pieces of art. It will be a great show for the public.”
 
Among the many works that will be displayed is Carolyn Terry’s photo of a red, white, and blue hot-air balloon. It was photographed over the Mississippi River three or four years ago, said Terry, who is based in Picayune. This and other images she photographed are “very Americana,” she said.
 
Terry said she appreciates the patriotic theme. “It’s a wonderful thing to celebrate our 250th anniversary,” she said. “I hope we as a nation continue to grow and that in another 50 years, our 300th’ anniversary will be even better.”
 
Terry said she remains optimistic about the nation’s future because of the people who want it to succeed. “That’s why we’ve made it to 250 years,” she said.
 
Terry is a master craftsman photographer, digital artist, and member of Professional Photographers of America Inc. She is the author of “Onward Mississippi,” a coffee table book with 65 images of her digital paintings and explanatory text based on locations throughout Mississippi. Her second book is “The Endurance of the Spirit: Mississippi Episcopal Churches.”
 
The works of Carolyn Weir, who is experimenting with patriotic colors in her banners, will also be featured in the exhibit. Weir said she is excited about Saturday’s event, which will highlight artwork that reflects what it means to be American.
 
“Our artists have come together and presented creations that tell a little bit of the story of our great country,” she said. “We invite the public to help us continue to celebrate the wonderful gift we have by living in America.”
 
In addition to being a painter, Weir is a kinetic mobile sculpture artist who specializes in “things that move,” she said, adding she also does abstract paintings.
 
Weir was recently awarded a $500 mini-grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission for the creative work she is exploring with banners.
 
ArtsNatchez Gallery is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes the arts in the greater Natchez area and is managed by a board of directors. It features local artists whose work spans a wide range of media, including photography, painting, ceramics, woodwork, fabric arts, and jewelry. Artwork is presented in oils, acrylics, pastels, charcoal, pencil, and pen and ink.
The gallery is open daily at 10 a.m. For more information, call 601-442-0043.