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Black and Blue Civil War Event Oct. 24
The eighth annual Black and Blue Civil War Living History Program will be held at Historic Jefferson College on Saturday, October 24, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The day-long program will commemorate the civil rights gained by the formerly enslaved people during Reconstruction and the culminating struggle of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
Movement veteran and Hattiesburg native Dorie Ladner will speak at 11 a.m. Ladner came to Natchez in 1964 to organize voter registration drives during Freedom Summer. In 1965 she became the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee’s project director in Natchez.
The living history presentation will begin at 1 p.m. and feature portrayals of black Union nurses, sailors, soldiers, cavalrymen, and civilians. Darrell White, director of the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture, will portray Hiram Revels, a freedman who helped raise two black regiments during the Civil War and later
Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture director Darrell White portrays Medal of Honor-winning seaman Wilson Brown at the 2014 Black and Blue program.
became the first African American to serve in the United States Congress as a senator from Mississippi.
White will also portray Wilson Brown,
who escaped slavery in Natchez, joined the United States Navy, and went on to receive the Medal of Honor—the nation’s highest military decoration—for his heroic role aboard the USS Hartford in the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864.
In May 1802 Jefferson College became the first institution of higher learning chartered in the Mississippi Territory. The school was placed in the capital city of Washington, six miles northeast of Natchez, and opened its doors in 1811. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 enrollment dropped dramatically and the school closed in 1863.
By June 1865 a Freedmen’s Bureau school was operating at Jefferson College to educate recently freed slaves. In November of that year, the school was returned to the Jefferson College Board of Trustees and the Freedmen’s Bureau closed.
Black and Blue is organized by Ser Se-shsh Ab Heter-CM Boxley, coordinator of the Friends of the Forks of the Road, Inc. For more information call 601-442-2901.
Living History at Old Capito! Oct. 29
History comes to life after hours with the seventh annual Present Meets Past at the Old Capitol Museum on Thursday, October 29, from 5 to 8 p.m. Walk the halls of the historic building and learn about life and politics as living history performers portray interesting Mississippians from the past.
“This is a great opportunity for visitors to have fun while learning about important events in Mississippi history— as told by the individuals who experienced them,” said Old Capitol Museum director Lauren Miller.
A World War II scrap collector will greet visitors in the foyer and encourage them to leave their scrap metal and rubber by the wall near the front gate. Ten other historical figures will be stationed throughout the building, ready to discuss the events of their
times: William Nichols, the architect who designed the Old Capitol; Ephraim G. Peyton, a state legislator who publicly opposed secession; James Hill, the second African American Speaker of the Mississippi House; Hiram Runnels, governor from 1833 to 1835; Eron Rowland, an advocate for the preservation of the Old Capitol; Mildred Humphreys, first lady of Mississippi 1865— 1868, lived in the Governor’s Mansion until her husband was removed from office in 1868; Felix Underwood, “the father of public health in Mississippi” who also had an office in the Old Capitol; Union soldier Ephraim Overby; and Frederick Grant, fourteen-year-old son of General Ulysses S. Grant.
The performers remain in character all evening; visitors are invited to ask questions and interact with them.