Lee Freeman
TUSCUMBIA-The Tennessee Valley Historical Society’s Spring Quarterly Meeting will be held on Sunday, 27 April 2014 at 2:30 p.m. in the Helen Keller Public Library Conference Room located at 511 N. Main Street in Tuscumbia.
Lee Freeman, Florence-Lauderdale Public Library’s Local History/Genealogy Dept. Head will deliver a power-point presentation: Servants of the Gray: Pro-Southern Blacks from Lauderdale County.
Most people are aware of black service via United States Colored Troop 
Regiments (USCT) during the American Civil War however most are unaware that an estimated 60,000 or more blacks served, often willingly, in various capacities (musicians, cooks, hospital orderlies, sharp-shooters, body servants and in labor battalions) in Confederate States armies. And in mid-1865 the Confederate States of America created several all-black combat regiments. Other blacks, slave and free, voluntarily supported the Confederate War effort via contributions of money and supplies. This 45 minute Power-Point presentation will briefly examine pro-Southern black allegiance across the South before turning to a specific examination of the nine or so pro-Southern blacks from Lauderdale County (and a couple from Franklin/Colbert). The program will examine the Civil War experiences of these men as researched from local historical records, and will examine the question of why these black men and thousands more like them across the South voluntarily chose to ally themselves with the Confederate States of America, otherwise their oppressors via slavery and restrictive legislation.
The meeting is free to the public. Refreshments will be served following the meeting.
Partner with TVHS and UNA in building the pride:
http://buildingthepride.com/tvhs/
MEDIA RELEASE/THE TENNESSEE VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY/THOMAS MCKNIGHT
