Fighting for Freedom: Courage and Emancipation in Central Virginia during the Civil War Era- Sunday, February 15, 2026
Join the National Park Service and Raising the Shade from 12:30 p.m.- 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 15, at Booker T. Washington National Monument. A free seminar will take place that explores the efforts of African Americans throughout the Civil War, the Freedmen’s Bureau in central Virginia and the lives and contributions of United States Colored Troops (USCTs) from Franklin County, Virginia.
The park will hold the program in the auditorium. It will include the following presentations:
12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.—The United States Colored Troops at Appomattox Court House
Ranger Chris Bingham will discuss the participation of African Americans in the Civil War, including the approximately 5,000 United States Colored Troops who were present at the Battle of Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.
1:45 p.m.-2:45 p.m.—The World After: Central Virginia in the Months following the Civil War
Ranger Harry Caldwell will focus on the Freedmen’s Bureau and how their operations in central Virginia from April to December 1865 affected newly freed African Americans.
3:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.—Who Were the 70 Franklin County-born USCT? Examination and Discussion of Four of these Soldiers: Samuel H. Smothers, Edward Arrington, Lewis Gill and Loyd Phillips
Dr. Sarah Plummer of Virginia Tech and local community researchers with Raising the Shade, Franklin County 1850-1910, will share their research on the lives of several soldiers and their families. They will document the families’ different situations before and after the Civil War and the remarkable contributions they made to their communities and to America.
All programs are free, open to the public and are subject to change. For additional information, please contact Booker T. Washington National Monument at (540) 682-0173.
