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Dedication set for Contraband Camp
By Brant Sappington
Staff Writer
The legacy of the Corinth Contraband Camp and its residents will be celebrated Saturday as the historic park at the site is officially unveiled to the public.
Saturday's ceremony, set for 10 a.m. at the Contraband Camp historic site onNorth Parkway, will include remarks from an array of state and local dignitaries honoring the history of the site where thousands of freed slaves took their first steps toward freedom. The theme of the ceremony will be "Building on a Strong Foundation: The education and legacy of the Corinth Contraband Camp".
All parking for the ceremony will be at Corinth High School Academic and Performing Arts Center on Harper Road where shuttle buses will transport attendees to and from the ceremony.
The Corinth Contraband Camp served as home to thousands of former slaves who were protected by the Union Army occupying Corinth in the days following the Emancipation Proclamation. The site was a model camp which quickly grew into a thriving community complete with a school, laundry, farmland growing both vegetables and crops for sale, and much more.
The camp was also home to its own regiment of African-American soldiers, the First Alabama Infantry of African American Descent established to guard the camp. The unit, later named the 55th U.S. Colored Troops, saw combat at Brice's Crossroads and Waterford. The newly completed park features a series of unique bronze sculptures depicting life in the camp, placed along a path winding through the property.
Among those scheduled to make remarks at Saturday's ceremony are Corinth Mayor Jerry Latch, Mississippi House of Representatives Speaker William J. "Billy" McCoy, Mississippi Senator Eric Powell, Mississippi Department of Archives and History Director Hank Holmes and Shiloh National Military Park Superintendent Woody Harrell. U.S. Senator Thad Cochran and Mississippi Supreme Court Presiding Justice James Graves will serve as keynote speakers.
Graves was appointed to the state Supreme Court in November 2001, becoming the third African American to serve on the state's highest court. He previously served as circuit court judge and also spent time as a special assistant attorney general heading the attorney general's human services division and serving as legal counsel for the Mississippi Department of Human Services. He later served as director of the Division of Child Support Enforcement of the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
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