American Battlefield TrustThe American Battlefield Trust, in partnership with Civil War Trails, has created Road to Freedom, a new map guide and free app focused on the African-American experience in Civil War-era Virginia.
At its heart, history is stories—of people living as best they can through whatever fateful circumstances. The lives of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant are well known. Other stories rarely make it into the history books—of people not leading armies or crafting legislation, of those lacking power or privilege, immigrants and the poor, women and children, and the land’s variety of ethnic communities. These stories are perhaps even more relatable to our own lives than those of the great statesmen.
Harry Truman said, “The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know.” As a lover of history, I believe we should seek out stories to add to the accounts we know so well. I am proud of what the Trust is accomplishing through our partnership with Ancestry and Fold3, connecting people to places where their forebears fought. I am also proud we have helped save land associated with groups long mostly absent from history’s stories.
The Trust’s focus is military history, where the contributions of African Americans often go unheralded. Millions of Americans have seen the film Glory, which climaxes with the assault of the 54th Massachusetts on Fort Wagner, outside Charleston. But how many viewers could tell you that 200,000 black men—10 percent of the Union armies—served in the Civil War, even though they could not enlist until halfway through the conflict. The Trust has been producing content telling their stories (and those of the black patriots who fought in the Revolutionary War) and for years has been protecting relevant battlefield landscapes.
The Trust has partnered with Civil War Trails on Road to Freedom, a new map guide and digital experience focused on the African-American experience in Civil War-era Virginia. This network encourages visitors and Virginians to uncover stories of strife, growth, and community, drawing on the perspectives of historical figures whose stories we should know. In emphasizing the black experience during this era, Road to Freedom highlights concepts of self-emancipation and empowerment largely left out from historical interpretation.
Between the map guide and free app, Road to Freedom features more than 88 sites across Virginia, from just outside the nation’s capital to near the Tennessee border. Locations range from Civil War Trails interpretive signs and historic highway markers to museums and battlefields with permanent installations pertaining to African-American history, including slavery, emancipation, the United States Colored Troops, and Reconstruction. Virginia is just the first part of the journey; we plan new stops and deeper context and hope for similar projects in other states.
Explore Road to Freedom with a free map guide, available in welcome centers and cultural institutions across Virginia. The app is GPS-enabled (images and historical content can be accessed from anywhere) and is available for download at the App Store and on Google Play, or as a web app through any browser. Learn more by visiting battlefields.org/RoadtoFreedom.
David Duncan is president of the nonprofit, nonpartisan American Battlefield Trust, which is dedicated to preserving America’s hallowed battlegrounds—Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War—and educating the public about their significance.
