News Release

Rebirth and Reunion in Chattanooga: The African American Experience at Camp Contraband

Date: September 28, 2017
Contact: Kim Coons, 423-752-5213 x139

Fort Oglethorpe, GA: On Monday, October 16, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, in partnership with the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, will present a free, 45 minute program exploring Camp Contraband and what it was like for the formerly enslaved African Americans who stayed there. This program will take place at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, 200 East Martin Luther King Boulevard, Chattanooga, TN 37403. The doors open at 5 pm, and the formal program begins at 5:30 pm. 

Camp Contraband was more than just a place and a refuge; it was an experience, both good and bad, where paid work, education, and self-direction were paired with danger, disease, and hostility. This program will highlight life in the contraband camp on the north shore of the Tennessee River, opposite Chattanooga, in 1864-1865 and its legacy of Union, Civil War, Opportunity, and Freedom.