Part 2 of African-Americans and the Civil War: Recommendations for Kennesaw park

During the Civil War, 88 African-Americans, most of them slaves, worshipped at First Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga.

In 1866, one year after the war ended, First Baptist granted the emancipated parishioners letters of dismissal and Zion Baptist Church was born in April 1866. The congregants met at a brush arbor and a wooden structure before building a brick church in 1888.

Today, Old Zion Baptist Church is a museum, and the large complex across Lemon Street serves as the worship center.

A sign in front of the current sanctuary reads, “Founded by former slaves in 1866.”

“That part means a lot,” longtime church member Louis Walker says. “It goes all the way back -- to your beginnings.”

The two congregations acknowledge their shared past.

Walker (below), 67, provides tours of the museum, which includes a history of African-American educational institutions, the church and its leaders and members. Original pews and musical instruments surround the massive wooden pulpit.

The church, old and new, imbues a message of struggle, perseverance, triumph and achievement.

A recent report recommending ways to increase African-American visitation at nearby Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (KEMO) suggests incorporating Zion Baptist’s history as a means of providing more culturally relevant material.

• (Read Part 1 of study and report)

The report also recommends a more comprehensive presentation on slavery and the role of U.S. Colored Troops. Black soldiers, by the end of the Civil War, comprised about 10 percent of the Union’s fighting force.

“We seem to glance over the soldier’s story,” said Brad Quinlin, a local historian and park volunteer. “We need to realize what courage it took for these men to enlist.”

The park, in a cooperative agreement with the Center for Study of the Civil War Era at Kennesaw State University, recently produced the report on African-American attitudes toward the Civil War.

Entitled, “The War of Jubilee: Tell Our Story and We will Come,” the effort stems from focus groups held last year with nearly 60 members of organizations that have primarily African-American membership.

Because the Visitor Center won’t likely be expanded any time soon and funding is limited, the park is pinpointing certain strategies, according to Superintendent Stanley C. Bond.

A video shown to visitors is being redone to tell more of the African-American story, he said.

The park is awaiting congressional action so that it can restore the nearby Wallis House (left), used as headquarters by Gen. O.O. Howard.

Howard University, a historically black school in Washington, D.C., was named for the white officer, founder of the university and commissioner of the Freedman’s Bureau.

Bond hopes the Wallis House can house an expanded exhibit on African-American soldiers and civilians.

The park is making more use of social media, including Twitter, and is working on a cell phone tour pinpointing six areas within the June 1864 battlefield, Bond said.

“What would draw me occasionally is a genuine effort to tell a true story,” says Deane Bonner, president of the Cobb County branch of the NAACP.

Among the report’s recommendations, which are being studied by Bond, to make the park more relevant:

-- Explain the role of African-American slaves in the South, what a typical day was like and provide narratives
-- Provide context for the formation of the U.S. Colored Troops and Sailors. Put on battle re-enactments or living histories that include their stories
-- Develop a biography of William H. “Ten Cent Bill” Yopp, the only African-American Confederate veteran buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Marietta
-- Include storytelling. For example, have two brothers discuss why they joined different sides; or an enslaved and free woman talk about what the Civil War meant to them
-- Implement interactive kiosks rather than traditional textual references on markers
-- Prepare curriculum materials for public school and home school educators
-- Provide public dialogue forums and oral histories with African-American civic and religious organizations
-- Employ local hip hop artists to create a Civil War modern jingle and perform it at KEMO
-- Invite African-American fraternities and sororities to partner with KEMO on marketing strategies and support
-- Purchase television and newspaper ads in African-American publications

African-Americans, as slaves, helped build the massive Confederate defenses at Kennesaw. Others served as cooks and teamsters for the Union army or occupied and guarded the battlefield.

“We have to be relevant to all Americans,” Bond (below) says of the exhibits and interpretive programs.

From Feb. 26 to March 28, the Visitor Center will host the Gilder Lehrman traveling exhibit "Free At Last: A History of the Abolition of Slavery in America."

The park and the Kennesaw center on March 25-26 host their annual joint symposium. This year’s theme, “Civil War to Civil Rights” is intended provide new interpretations of the conflict.

Members of the focus groups were appreciative of the opportunity to provide input to KEMO, which is sharing its findings with other federal Civil War sites.

“People are excited the Park Service is moving in the right direction,” says Hermina Glass-Avery, associate director of the Kennesaw University center and author of the report.

What’s perhaps new about this initiative is finding a way to tie in a battlefield park with the lives of people in the surrounding communities.

The Cobb NAACP used to meet at Zion Baptist Church, which has grown to more than 1,300 members. “It has always had a significant role in civil rights in Cobb County,” Bonner says of the church.

Zion occasionally has programs with predominantly white churches, said Walker, adding churches could be part of the park’s marketing efforts.

On Feb. 13, Zion hosted the third “Celebration of the Negro Spiritual,” an afternoon concert (right) featuring a racially and ethnically diverse mass choir and performers.

One of the songs performed was “No More Auction Block.”

“No more auction block for me. Many thousands gone,” is the refrain in the poignant song about human bondage.

But the celebration ended with a sign of unity many hope the sesquicentennial of the Civil War will engender.

Worshippers of all colors joined hands and sang the immortal words of one of the most well-known spirituals.

“We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day”

She unearths train chase starting place

Marietta, Ga., archaeologist Melissa Scharffenberg uncovers the foundation of the Lacy Hotel in Kennesaw, scene of the Great Locomotive Chase. • Article

John Brown: Martyr or Madman?

The Center for the Study of the Civil War Era and American Studies Program at Kennesaw State University in suburban Atlanta has a program on fiery abolitionist John Brown next month.

The program, "Martyr or Madman?", is from 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Oct. 11 at Auditorum/Room 1021 (Building 22) on the campus. Parking is free at the KSU Welcome Center.

"John Brown’s role and actions prior to the Civil War as an abolitionist, and the tactics he chose, still make him a controversial figure today," the center says. "Sometimes he is memorialized as a madman and a terrorist and sometimes as a heroic martyr and a visionary."

Dr. Rebecca Hill will present “Radical Politics of John Brown.”

Dr. Brian Wills, also of KSU, will present “Madman of the Movies.”

Brown advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to end all slavery. He was executed after the unsuccessful raid at Harpers Ferry, W. Va., in 1859. President Abraham Lincoln said he was a "misguided fanatic."

"Movies have tendencies to simplify characters and compress stories with portrayals often meant to conform to the expectations of audiences, with the intent of getting them into the theater seats or before their television screens," Wills, director of the center, told the Picket.

"The John Brown of film/television is a mixture of the metaphors that fit the notions of viewers whose knowledge of the historical figure tends otherwise to be limited. Brown must be seen in a certain light and in specified settings to be believed. The Old Testament temper, flowing beard and vehement expressions (verbal and visual), provide the appropriate context for the zealot of Bleeding Kansas and Harpers Ferry."

For more information, call (678) 797-2551.

Relics prompt college evacuation

A college classroom building in suburban Atlanta was evacuated Monday morning because of Civil War relics that authorities feared were dangerous. • Article

Use Google Earth to tour battlefield

If only Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman had Google Earth when he marched through Georgia in 1864.

He would have known exactly where Cleburne’s Division and other Confederate troops were entrenched down to the parapet and traverse level at Kennesaw Mountain northwest of Atlanta.

Instead, modern-day Civil War buffs and recreational users of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park can take advantage of GIS technology and Google Earth to get a virtual tour.

The park posted the new Google Earth map on its website in June, said Superintendent Stanley Bond.

“I’ve heard comments from people in the history field that it is a good tool,” said Bond, who hired two students at nearby Kennesaw State University to build the map.

The work produced by Tom Powers and Ed Dean, who are geography/GIS majors, is impressive.

With a little practice, you can use a menu of click boxes and folders to bring up multiple overlays of the park.

Powers, a technical writer who has “moved into the digital arena,” did some old-fashioned leg work to produce the text and pop-up windows. He used the park’s library, talked with NPS historian Willie Johnson and found public domain pictures.

“The goal is to increase park visitation,” said Powers.

Powers and Dean converted NPS data files and then figured out how to produce a map that was informative without being overwhelming. Powers put in 150 hours on the project, Dean about 80.

The map is largely organized by where generals were entrenched or moved in the battle during the Atlanta Campaign. Pop-ups feature details on specific engagements during the fighting, which was a brief but costly setback during Sherman’s move on Atlanta.

Walking and horse trails, rivers, streams and railroads also are featured. Google Earth allows you to get a sense of the mountainous terrain and what an advantage it gave to Confederate forces.

Bond hopes one day for the map to drill down with even more detail and list regiments that participated in the June 1864 battle.

Interestingly, neither Powers nor Dean knew much about the history of the site before they started the project last fall.

“I knew there was a battle ... I didn’t know a lot about it,” said Dean, a KSU junior from nearby Mableton.

• Click here to download Kennesaw Mountain Google Earth map.

Kennesaw devises plan to protect earthworks

Kennesaw Mountain’s 11 miles of earthworks have long outlived the young men who hastily erected them before the momentous battle in June 1864.

“We probably have the best set of field earthworks anywhere in the country,” says Stanley Bond, superintendent of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in suburban Atlanta.

But that doesn’t mean time, erosion and humans aren’t taking their toll.

Some visitors have worn down gun emplacements. Invasive vegetative species have moved in and trees have risen in the trenches.

This summer, about 10 high school and college students from Atlanta’s Greening Youth Foundation, along with other volunteers, have been removing saplings that could tear away entrenchments if they tip over.

But the park wants to do more. An outside consulting firm is finalizing an earthworks management plan for Kennesaw Mountain.

Bond says he expects the action plan to recommend steps to prevent erosion, remove some trees, include more fencing and use signage to educate visitors.

“How do we interpret them to the public?” Bond asks.

Kennesaw is an unusual Civil War battlefield in that about 80 percent of its users come for recreational reasons. The park has miles of jogging and horse-riding trails.

“Most of them [earthworks] are in places where people don’t go,” Bond says.

Liz Sargent, a historic landscape architecht in Charlottesville, Va., has been devising the plan on behalf of John Milner Associates, which provides cultural management and historic preservation services.

While she can’t speak specifically about the Kennesaw plan, Sargent says her work includes looking at how land or water affected a battle, such as at Vickburg, Ms., and Stones River, Tenn. Kennesaw Mountain, of course, has its mountains.

Sargent agrees that in some cases fences are needed to protect areas, especially in city settings. Signs and fences “can diminish the sense of history and going back in time” but also can be useful and educational.

The NPS’s “Sustainable Military Earthworks Management” provides a framework for saving fortifications.

“Military earthworks are complex and fragile resources that are often the only surviving above-ground structural remnants of a battle. These resources are highly authentic to the historic battle and require specialized management within the general principles of battlefield landscape preservation.”

Over the past 30 years or so, parks have looked at features like entrenchments with a more scientific and preservation focus, Sargent says. Sites are trying to manage competing needs.

“They want something that is sustainable,” says Sargent.

• Click here to learn about earthworks management.

Bill would add land at Kennesaw Mountain

In late April, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) introduced H.R. 5152, which would adjust the boundary of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park to include the Wallis House and Harriston Hill.

The eight acres containing the house and hill are owned by Cobb County. The house was the headquarters for Union Gen. O. O. Howard in mid-June 1864, and the hill behind it was used as a Federal signal station.

According to the Georgia Battlefields Association, additions to existing battlefield parks are rare. The bill stipulates that the added land must come through donation or exchange.

Taking in the Southern Museum, Big Shanty

The Great Locomotive Chase, the Southern Museum points out, actually began on foot.

Western & Atlantic Railroad conductor William A. Fuller was shocked to see a group of men commandeer “The General” while passengers and crew were enjoying breakfast at the Lacy Hotel in Big Shanty, Ga., on April 12, 1862.

Fuller and a couple others ran north after his train. He didn’t yet know it had been taken by James Andrews and a group of nearly two dozen Union commandos. Andrews was on a doomed mission to destroy track and disrupt communications.

The conductor ran across a handcar and three trains and 86 miles later he -- along with Confederate horsemen who had been reached by telegraph -- had chased Andrews to Ringgold, a few miles south of Chattanooga, Tenn. Out of fuel and water for the locomotive, Andrews and his party fled, only to be captured.

Eight, including its leader, were later hanged in Atlanta for espionage and conspiracy. Fuller became a Georgia hero.

Today, Big Shanty is known as Kennesaw, a Cobb County suburb about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. The city lies near Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield and is home to fast-growing Kennesaw State University, whose dorms rise along nearby Interstate 75.

I spent a few hours Thursday at the museum and in downtown Kennesaw, which hosts the Big Shanty Festival this weekend.

I was impressed by the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, a well-landscaped brick building which rises alongside the busy tracks used by up to 70 CSX trains a day.

The front portion gives an insightful history of the crucial role played by railroads during the Civil War. The exhibits include weapons, photos and uniforms and civilian clothing.

Like almost every aspect of the war, the North had more materiel than the South. In 1860, its rail production was 234,000 tons vs. 26,000 tons. And the Union had an amazing military railroad system. Both sides leveraged tracks to move thousands of troops into Chickamauga, Ga., and Chattanooga.

Another fascinating feature of the Southern Museum is a display on Pullman Porters and a large re-creation of Glover Machine Works, which produced 200 small but versatile locomotives between 1902 and 1930 in nearby Marietta. The family-owned company continued to make pipe and other parts into the 1950s.

The museum acquired Glover tools, parts patterns, locomotives and more when the complex was cleaned out and leveled in the mid-1990s. This part of the museum is a must for railroad buffs because it shows a side of railroading you rarely see.

The facility also has a hands-on Education Center for kids.

A large theater presents a fine 25-minute drama on the Great Locomotive Chase. Outside are photos of the Andrews raiders and several of the key Georgians who went after them. The presentation includes a description of the Medals of Honor the raiders received. One medal on display was posthumously awarded to hanged raider Sgt. John Scott.

After that tribute, you walk in to the room with the “The General,” the museum’s star attraction. Remarkably, the train was reconditioned after the war and made several tours, including during the Civil War centennial in the 1960s.

Although its paint scheme and features changed over the years, “The General” still looks imposing enough. And its boiler is certified to operate through 2019 in the very unlikely chance it will return to the tracks after its 40-year rest.

The only other surviving train involved in the chase, “The Texas,” is housed at the Atlanta Cyclorama. Fuller and crew had to drive it in reverse to catch up with Andrews at Ringgold. Interestingly, the Southern Museum says “The Texas” doesn’t get as much notice as it should, given it was “the true eventual winner” of the race.

Afterward, I crossed the tracks to a small park, home to several signs remembering Big Shanty, Fuller and the Andrews Raiders. Big Shanty was also home to Camp McDonald, which trained Confederate troops. The camp was on land near the current Kennesaw City Hall.

Kennesaw Trains owner Kevin Mills told me business in downtown has been slow over the past few months and a couple of restaurants have relocated or closed. But condos and offices are expected to go up when better times return.

Main Street is also home to Wildman’s Civil War Surplus Shop operated by Dent Myers. Myers in 2008 applauded a U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming Americans' right to defend themselves with guns.

In 1982, Kennesaw passed a law that every head of household must own a firearm. That law is still on the books.

Nearby, the city is building a pedestrian tunnel so that visitors and locals can walk from one side of the busy tracks to the other.

Unfortunately, it will not be completed in time for this year’s Big Shanty Festival, which is this Saturday and Sunday. It features more than 250 arts and craft booths, a parade and fireworks.

• Click here for more info on the Southern Museum.
• Click here for more info on the Big Shanty Festival.

Kennesaw battlefield conducting focus groups with African-Americans

Hoping to widen the scope of its exhibits, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is talking with African-Americans about their attitudes on the Civil War.

The park wants to know what would draw more African-Americans and what kind of exhibits or themes might better tell the black narrative on the conflict.

“The African-American side of the Civil War has been left out” at most sites, said Kennesaw Mountain (KEMO) Superintendent Stanley C. Bond.

The park, working with the Center for the Study of the Civil War Era at nearby Kennesaw State University, will be hosting five focus groups this spring. Each group will have 8-10 participants. The groups will include officials and members of several organizations, such as the NAACP Cobb County branch.

KEMO’s recommendations and actions following the study will be shared with other federal Civil War sites later this summer. National Park Service sites are charged with discussing the causes and consequences of the war, Bond says. It’s part of the “From the Civil War to Civil Rights” initiative.

Bond says the popular suburban Atlanta battlefield does have some mention of the homefront and the African-American story during the Civil War, but needs to do more.

“We would like to see more people here for historical purposes,” says Bond, who contends about 80 percent of park visitors come for recreational purposes, such as hiking, walking and horseback riding.

Conducting the focus groups is Hermina Glass-Avery (above), associate director of the KSU center.

Glass-Avery contends that slavery, race and emancipation got short shrift during the nation’s 1961 observation of the Civil War centennial. She hopes that changes during the sesquicentennial commemoration starting in 2011.

A controversy this week has rekindled the issue of perspective.

Virginia Gov. Bob McConnell apologized Wednesday for failing to include slavery in his proclamation declaring April as Confederate History Month. He said he wanted the month to mark the valor of Confederate soldiers, but critics said he should have first acknowledged the ties between slavery and the war.

Bond and Glass-Avery cite the following as examples of little-known aspects of blacks in Georgia:

-- Some 250 African-Americans from the era, many federal soldiers, are buried at the National Cemetery in Marietta. One African-American, “Ten Cent” Bill Yopp, served with Confederate forces and is buried with them at the Confederate Cemetery in Marietta.

-- African-Americans, like their white owners and neighbors, suffered late in the war. “When Sherman went on the March to the Sea he took everything,” Bond said.

-- Large numbers of black women died in contraband camps because they were left without support when freed men joined the federal army.

-- Plantations symbolize the antebellum South. “You don’t hear from the silent hands that made them operate,” said Glass-Avery.

-- African-American soldiers “were present and agents of change for their freedom.” At least 200,000 served.

Glass-Avery and Bond hope their focus group findings may bring about new interpretive approaches and exhibits that could increase the number of black visitors.

“Their [African-Americans’] story is not held with the same respect as other narratives,” said Glass-Avery, who contends the election of President Barack Obama has made the time right to discuss the war, race and civil rights. She says the Compromise of 1850, Jim Crow laws, the Dred Scott decision by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Civil War all shaped the push for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s.

KEMO recently participated in the Center for the Study of the Civil War Era’s recent symposium, “Alternative Realities: African-Americans and the American Civil War: Freedom, Memory and Identity.”

Glass-Avery says the “Lost Cause” touted by many Southerners after the war and at the 1961 centennial has given way to the discussion of many other issues and beliefs related to the Civil War.

In the end, Glass-Avery hopes that Americans will be open to different views of history.

“It is ethical for us to be respectful of one another.”