A Rival Monument

Rebel on Main

Archaeologist Stephen McBride wants to emancipate Jessamine from the Lost Cause. He zeroes in on Camp Nelson, which has nearly disappeared from the county’s memory. Farmers have leveled the earthworks, and developers are eyeing the site. Camp Nelson’s significance has also been buried by racial hostility. Many in the local Black community have been driven off by lynchings, KKK rallies, and backlash to the civil rights movement.

As construction workers begin to widen a state highway that cuts through the site, Jessamine’s best emancipationist memory is under threat of being permanently erased. But this disastrous development becomes the site’s salvation. The state historical commission steps in and gives McBride a year to recover what he can before the bulldozers return. To nearly everyone’s delight, the archaeologist unearths a long-buried narrative that once again tells hard stories about racial violence and inspirational stories about Black freedom. Camp Nelson begins to duel with the statue over the county’s Civil War memory.

Resources

• For pictures of Jenna, Pastor Moses, and the Wilmore march, head to rebelonmain.com/episode5.
• George Wright, A History of Blacks In Kentucky: In Pursuit of Equality, 1890-1980

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Timestamps

00:00 As activists wait for Judge West to act on Jenna’s petition, Camp Nelson rises from the ground.

02:57 Archaeologist Stephen McBride describes his digs at Camp Nelson.

30:09 Calvonia Radford discusses the preservation of Black history.

32:51 Rev. Gates explains why he is suspicious of my interest in Black history. He tells stories of his descendants at Camp Nelson.

46:40 Judge West discusses the significance of Black history and the story of Camp Nelson becoming a national monument.

53:05 A luminaria in lament of the 1864 expulsion is the first event held at Camp Nelson National Monument.

Transcript: Visit www.rebelonmain.com/episode5.

Production team

• Writer and Host: David R. Swartz
• Original Music, Sound Design, and Mixing: Barry Blair
• Story Editor: Stephen Smith
• Artistic Design: Josh Smith and Lisa Weaver Swartz

Next episode: In Episode 6—A Confederate from Canada—a political activist uses the Confederate statue to win the 2020 election.