News Release

Mark Thrash – Local Legend, Civil Rights After the Civil War

Date: May 7, 2024
Contact: Kim Coons, 706-866-9241, ext. 139

Fort Oglethorpe, GA:  Beginning May 7, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will be hosting two new temporary exhibits showcasing artifacts recovered from the home and dump site of Mark Thrash and his family at the time they lived within the park. These artifacts are from an archeological field school conducted in 1975, a little over 30 years after Mark Thrash passed away.  

Under the direction of Jeffery L. Brown, the archeological field school was initiated to shine light on how Mark Thrash and his family lived while on park property as well as to seek more insight on their status within the community. Thrash was born enslaved, gained his freedom after the Civil War, and eventually became a laborer for the United States War Department at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park from 1894-1922. He was a known staple of the community and would share his life stories with park visitors from his porch. Reconstruction began in 1865 and as a freedman, Mark Thrash’s life was an example of how freedmen and freedwomen lived after the Civil War. To learn more, please visit the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center’s temporary exhibits on Mark Thrash – Local Legend, Civil Rights After the Civil War.

For more information about programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, contact the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706-866-9241, the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at 423-821-7786, or visit the park website at www.nps.gov/chch.