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RSS FeedsRetiree Steve Matthews Has Art Exhibit in Murfreesboro at Bradley Academy - Monday, April 04, 2011
Bradley Academy to unveil story of U.S. Colored Troops
Exhibit coincides with start of war's 150th anniversary
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John A. Gillis/DNJ Dr. George Smith, left, and artist Steve Matthews display a Civil War exhibit that will be unveiled Saturday at Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center focusing on U.S. Colored Troop.
As the 150th year since the beginning of the Civil War approaches April 12, Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center is putting the finishing touches on an exhibit that relates untold stories of the war.
"It is something you have never seen in an exhibit," said Dr. George Smith, who is working with Murfreesboro artist Steve Matthews to bring the U.S. Colored Troops to life through the exhibit.
The familiar meshes with the unfamiliar in the exhibit, as the history behind the Civil War, including Union and Confederate soldiers and slaves and freed men and women is told.
But it is the striking, multi-dimensional, life-sized figures of "armed" U.S. Colored Troops charging up Peach Orchard Hill during the Battle of Nashville in December, 1864, that reach out to grab you.
Matthews has read about and researched U.S. Colored Troops to come up with legitimate artwork to best characterize that period.
"I am very concerned about illustrations that can bring out the character and contribution of the black soldiers," he said.
The Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect Jan. 1, 1863, made it possible for the union Army to begin enlisting individuals of African descent, Smith said.
"George Singleton was still a slave during the Battle of Stones River (December 1862 and January 1863).
Singleton was a body servant to a Confederate soldier in Murfreesboro. When the slave master's son was injured in the conflict, Singleton put him on a wagon and took him to Shelbyville to recuperate. The Confederate soldier was later taken to prison in Kentucky
"Singleton later leaves Fairfield plantation and comes back to Murfreesboro and joins the 17th United States Colored Troops," Smith said. "Singleton is loyal enough to (the slave master's son) to put him on a wagon and take him to Fairfield Plantation, but later decides to be a soldier and fight for his freedom."
The 13th and 17th U.S. Colored Troops were enlisted in Murfreesboro.
By this Saturday's grand opening, the Murfreesboro descendants of U.S. Colored Troops will be identified on a board upstairs through a genealogy profile.Another section of the Civil War exhibit explains about contraband during the Civil War.
"Three point eight million people coming out of slavery supported the union Army in a non-military form," Smith said. "Cooking, acting as spies, building fortifications."
Another 200,000 blacks were in military uniform, he said.
"We want to let kids know that we fought for our freedom," Matthews said.
Smith said Cracker Barrel donated several thousand dollars to help to fund the exhibit, which he and Matthews began working on in November.
Part of the exhibit is already on display at Bradley Academy and Cultural Museum. Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students and $1 for youth 12 and up. The museum is at 415 S. Academy St. in Murfreesboro. Phone 615-867-2633.
The grand opening of the Civil War exhibit is at 5 p.m. Saturday.
U.S. Colored Troops re-enactors will be in uniform as well as ladies dressed in period costumes and sharing information about the era.
"We are going to give a special presentation to Cracker Barrel, because they have been so good to us," Smith said.
Refreshments will also be served.
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