Vicksburg National Military Park – Vicksburg, Mississippi

 

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Introduction

The Vicksburg National Military Park (VNMP) in Mississippi is a federal entity of the National Park Service. The VNMP owns over 1,300 monuments in the form of statues, structures, plaques, and busts commemorating the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863, a military campaign of the U.S. Civil War. The city of Vicksburg depends on its Civil War history and the VNMP as pillars of the tourism industry, and many of its multi-generational residents feel a claim to place and heritage. Under state and federal law, governmental entities may not destroy the statues. The consensus among Vicksburg residents and visitors is that they do not want the Civil War statues, including the Confederate memorials, to be removed or relocated from the area. However, the arguments for preservation range in depth and complexity, speaking to a broader conversation around narrative, control, and public history. When considered together, the monuments in and around the VNMP offer a case study centered on the necessity for recontextualization and reinterpretation, especially in instances where government entities will not remove monuments.  

This research involved significant ethnographic fieldwork in and around the VNMP, referred to by some as “The Art Park of the World,” along with documentation of other Civil War monuments throughout Vicksburg. This research utilizes a blend of archival research, participant observation, thick description, and interviews with local stakeholders such as museum professionals, business owners, academics, and governmental representatives, including National Park Service staff and local politicians. 

Section 1: The Key to the South – Vicksburg, MS

Founded in 1811, the city of Vicksburg became a significant economic hub in commerce and agriculture due to its location on the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. Situated on loess soil bluffs, Vicksburg became an antebellum mercantile town primarily due to river traffic, railroad industry, and regional plantations on both sides of the Mississippi River. Joseph Emory Davis enslaved over 300 people of African descent at a peninsula dubbed ‘Davis Bend’ just south of the town. He later gifted his youngest brother, Jefferson Davis, a plantation in the vicinity. Jefferson Davis first held public office in Vicksburg and in 1861, received news at his Brierfield Plantation that he had been unanimously elected President of the Confederate States of America (CSA). Like the Davises, many residents at the time were not native-born to the area, whether they immigrated from Europe or other parts of the U.S. A significant number of people had moved to the Mississippi River Valley following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The pre-Civil War town is described as a cosmopolitan city because of its multicultural roots; local literature and tours declare that Mississippi’s unique “southern drawl” is a byproduct of foreign and native tongues speaking slowly to ease translation difficulties. 

After the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863, the population shifted in demographics as formerly enslaved Black people moved into the emancipated city. According to the 2020 Census, Vicksburg proper is home to 21,564 people. Over two-thirds of the population identified as “Black or African American alone,” while 27.7% identified themselves as “white alone.” As for Warren County, the percentage of the population that identifies as “Black or African American alone” or “white alone” is closer to equal. In addition to Vicksburg and Warren County being predominantly Black, 18.9% of the population are 65 or over (U.S. Census Bureau 2020). Those in this age group were born before or during the same year that Emmitt Till was murdered in Money, Mississippi, in 1955 and alive when the Civil Rights Act of 1957 was signed into law. 

The median income, $37,995, is 18% lower than the Mississippi state average. The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center is the top employer in Warren County, which mainly relies on industries such as river commerce and manufacturing. In the city core, the retail and the hospitality industries, including gambling and tourism, form the main economic engine. The Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau underwent a marketing rebrand in 2011 and began to refer to the growing city as “The Key to the South.” This phrase is a play on President Lincoln’s remark about Vicksburg’s geographic significance in the Civil War: “The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket” (“Rebranding Local Spending Is ‘the Key’” 2012). 

During the first few years of the Civil War, the Union attempted to capture Vicksburg by force or circumvent the port city altogether. For the United States, control of the Mississippi River became vital for moving supplies and troops. Union General Ulysses S. Grant unsuccessfully attempted to bypass the city by excavating a portage across the river in Louisiana, later dubbed Grant’s Canal. For the Confederacy, the loss of the city and the river meant the loss of access to Arkansas, Texas, and the last vestiges of seceded Louisiana. As CSA President Jefferson Davis noted, Vicksburg acted as “the nailhead that holds the South’s two halves together” (VNMP 2019).

The Siege of Vicksburg, part of the larger Campaign of Vicksburg, began May 1863 and ended July 3rd, 1863. During the 47-day event, Union troops under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant cut off resources to the city and effectively starved out Confederate troops under the command of Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton. Both sides literally moved earth in Vicksburg, creating fortifications and trench lines as sharpshooters and artillery men exchanged fire day and night. In the city, antebellum mansions became hospitals, often to protect the structures from Union Navy shellfire. Residents took shelter in caves as shells bombarded the bluffs, and by the end of the siege, people had resorted to eating mules and rats. Across the river in Louisiana, the CSA Texas Division surprised a regiment of United States Colored Troops (USCT) stationed at a supply depot at Milliken’s Bend. These formerly enslaved troops had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation just six months prior, with the caveat that, “such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armed service of the United States” (Hills, 22). Though unprepared for the surprise attack, the men engaged in hand-to-hand combat, as did fellow USCT regiments eleven days prior in Port Hudson. As the Siege of Vicksburg continued, CSA Commander Joseph E. Johnston led a Confederate Army of Relief towards the main battlefield with regiments from Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and Virginia, among others, but failed to provide aid before the surrender. General Pemberton erected a Flag of Truce on July 3rd, 1863, and officially surrendered the following day after discussing terms with General Ulysses S. Grant. In total, the siege accumulated over 19,000 military casualties. For a complete discussion of the Siege of Vicksburg, please consult additional sources.

After the finalized surrender on July 4th, 1863, the city of Vicksburg became an experiment in Reconstruction. Hiram R. Revels, the first Black U.S. senator, had been stationed in Vicksburg as a member of the USCT. Several Black Vicksburg residents also served in the Mississippi state legislature and held political offices. However, Reconstruction in Vicksburg ended just over a decade later after an armed white mob forcibly removed Sheriff Peter Crosby from office. Following the usurpation, white supremacists killed 75-300 African Americans, culminating in the Vicksburg Massacre of 1874 (Dec. 7, 1874: Vicksburg Massacre n.d.).

Section 2: The Vicksburg National Military Park

2.1. Background and Overview of the VNMP

The first moment of memorialization began in 1863 with the establishment of a marble column commemorating the “Surrender Site,” the toponym commonly used to refer to the site where Grant and Pemberton discussed their terms for ending the siege. In 1866, Congress passed legislation creating the Vicksburg National Cemetery in an effort to recognize American soldiers killed in the Civil War. As secessionists, Confederate soldiers were not buried in the cemetery. In 1895, the VNMP Commission formed and advocated for establishing a federal park. In 1899, the War Department officialized the battlefield as a park to “commemorate the campaign and siege and defense of Vicksburg, and to preserve the history of the battles and operations of the siege and defense on the ground where they were fought” (VNMP  2010). The timeline for establishment of the park aligns with Erika Doss’ (2012) concept of “statue mania,” a term that defines a half-century of public art initiatives meant to bolster nationalism after the Civil War.

The VNMP commission included veterans of both sides of the siege. Perhaps the most remembered commissioner is Stephen D. Lee, who fought in the Vicksburg campaign as a CSA brigadier general. After the war, Lee frequently supported white supremacist legislation and Lost Cause ideologies as a state senator and Mississippi State University’s inaugural president. The Lost Cause is an interpretation of the Civil War that seeks to redefine historical memory regarding Southern secession and the failure of the Confederacy. Symptoms of Lost Cause ideology include ignoring, or denying, the preservation of enslavement as a cause for the war; defining enslavement as a benefit for African Americans; the idolization of CSA leaders such as General Robert E. Lee, often through memorialization and erection of monuments; the purification of southern women and martyrization of southerners at large for their gallantry (Blight 2023; “The Lost Cause: Definition and Origins” 2020).

The park’s first commissioner, William T. Rigby, is credited for restoring the battlefield and marking significant locations. Most of the portrait memorials in the park were erected under Rigby’s 28-year tenure. Considering the topographical remains of the siege and federal provisions concerning the placement of markers, the VNMP memorials are more concentrated along battle lines. The park features two main sections, the North and South Loops, which are further divided in name by the west/south and north/east as Confederate and Union Avenues, respectively. 

In 1933, President Roosevelt transferred the management of all Civil War Battlefields from the War Department to the National Park Service (NPS). As the city of Vicksburg grew, more roads began to cut through VNMP. In the 1950s and 60s, NPS transferred portions of the park to the city and the county, particularly along the Confederate Avenue and Mission 66 thoroughfares (Dumas, 2016). In 1990, the NPS acquired a section of Grant’s Canal across the river in Delta, LA, and has recently acquired other locations related to the siege, including Champion’s Hill, about 20 miles east of Vicksburg. They also own General Pemberton’s Headquarters in downtown Vicksburg, an antebellum mansion undergoing restoration. The Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park organization assists NPS with volunteers, programming, and fundraising for statue restoration, among other things. At the time of writing, local stakeholders are also planning an $80 million project in partnership with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) to build a new interpretive center for the park. 

Overall, dialogue about the social role of monuments in public spaces is quiet in Vicksburg and the VNMP. Mayor George Flaggs, Jr. (I) received a few emails and phone calls calling for monument removal in the area, but little else, even at the height of national dialogue and protests concerning Confederate monuments. After the white nationalist Unite the Right rally and the murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, VA, in 2017, U.S. Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D), whose district includes Warren County, called for the removal of Confederate monuments and emblems in the U.S. Capitol and on Mississippi’s state flag. Under Mississippi law, a military monument such as a Confederate statue cannot be destroyed but can be removed in some circumstances. However, Mississippi adopted a new state flag without the Stars and Bars emblem in 2021. Rep. Thompson has since sponsored and supported legislation to further this cause, such as H.R.7608, with a section calling for removal of Confederate commemorative works, such as monuments, from NPS properties. 

In August 2017, NPS made the following statement: 

Unless directed by legislation, it is the policy of the National Park Service that these works and their inscriptions will not be altered, relocated, obscured, or removed, even when they are deemed inaccurate or incompatible with prevailing present-day values (“Guidance and Statements on Civil War Monuments” n.d.). 

Within the Monuments Toolkit framework, the official status of all Civil War monuments under the VNMP and NPS is labeled as status quo: “The act of inaction. Allowing the monument to exist without any type of intervention.”

Generally, the VNMP’s 1,400+ busts, plaques, and statues lack textual or artistic political subjectivity. Instead, they act as geographic place markers: identifiers placing people or events to a specific site that relays historical information in a neutral tone. Position plaques are the most common type of geographic place markers in the VNMP; these cast-iron plaques are painted blue or red (Union or Confederate, respectively) and inform readers with facts such as troop positions, entrenchments, camps, movements, and other military information. The portrait memorials do not feature inscriptions or motifs common for other Lost Cause statues erected during the period of “statue mania” in the United States (Doss 2012). Nearly all Union memorials and markers were erected by the onset of the United States’ entry into World War I in 1917, while most Confederate memorials and markers were erected after the Great War. Within VNMP, public art elements were allocated funding differently based on their subject matter. The states were responsible for financing and designing the state memorials and state position markers. In contrast, most of the portrait memorials (including busts, figure statues, relief portraits, equestrian statues) and position plaques were federally funded.

2.2. State Memorials

The state memorials are undoubtedly the main draw and foci for visitors. Twenty-eight state memorials are found in Vicksburg or the VNMP. Several monuments honor units from both sides of the campaign. The sculptors and architects of the state monuments sought to relay a message of remembrance through design and magnificence. Some creators communicated their message through aesthetic motifs, such as the use of olive branches to represent peace or featuring mythological figures such as Clio, the Greek goddess of history. For example, the Missouri monument’s bronze figure representing “The Spirit of the Republic” is modeled after the Greek goddess of victory, Nike. On either side of the figure, bronze reliefs show men engaged in battle, both heroically and tragically. The VNMP statues erected pre-WWI were generally modeled in the Beaux Arts and neoclassical style (Panhorst 2014). Several of the state memorials list the individual names of soldiers who participated in the battle in addition to casualty counts and the names of leading officers. 

As per the National Park Service, “The commemorative landscape is a fundamental part of the park’s purpose, which reflects the efforts of veterans groups and states from both sides to write their legacy on the landscape of Vicksburg National Military Park, while healing and reuniting the nation” (NPS n.d.). A textual analysis of the state monuments reiterates that these structures are clearly intended to memorialize soldiers and veterans of the Siege of Vicksburg and, indeed, contribute to this commemorative landscape (Fig 1). However, they also merit further analysis and discussion around the social role of monuments. 

A visual and textual analysis of the state monuments suggests that Union and Confederate state memorials relay contrasting and imbalanced symbolism in verbiage and aesthetic motifs. Figure 1 shows how Union memorials use more words to encourage reconciliation, such as peace and unity. The olive branch, a traditional symbol for peace, reoccurs more on Union and CSA/USA state monuments. 

 

The Confederate state memorials are more representative of self; statue inscriptions are typically more internally-focused, exemplifying only their respective successes or sacrifices as a part of the Confederacy. The recurring use of the Stars and Bars on several CSA monuments alludes to an intranational focus within the former CSA states. Similarly, Figure 2 shows how CSA state memorials use more words like valor, honor, and devotion to regard their fallen soldiers. Along this line, several of the CSA state monuments, both in the VNMP and along Confederate Avenue, use aesthetic symbolism or subjective text on monuments to infer Lost Cause ideologies. 

 

An analysis of the available state monument texts primarily recapitulates that these statues were erected as memorials of remembrance in a commemorative landscape while still highlighting the crux of messages that they convey (Fig. 3). Arguably, the state monuments are not direct monuments of oppression, since they are not “constructed to purposefully perpetuate fear, inaccurate tellings of history, racism, xenophobia…” as defined by Monuments Toolkit. Furthermore, Vicksburg residents have not determined them “to be oppressive or harmful to their communities,” because of their geographical significance. Several interlocutors confer that these Confederate statues differ from typical monuments of oppression because of their neutral tones and, most importantly, their historical association with the place. Mayor Flaggs simultaneously supports the status quo of the area’s monuments and other communities’ efforts to remove statues of figures without affiliation with that area’s history. As he stated in an interview, it is his job to serve as an ambassador and representative for all of the city’s residents, both pre- and post-Civil War residents. 

2.3. The 1st and 3rd Infantry Regiment of African Descent Monument

In VNMP, road signs direct visitors to turn around at the foot of the 1st and 3rd Infantry Regiment of African Descent monument (often called the African American Monument). The sculptor, Dr. J. Kim Sessums, wrote a reflective essay on this memorial to describe his artistic process. This excerpt describes his intentions behind the design of the three men: 

One man looks back with anguish and sadness to a past filled if not with pain then certainly with limitations and a splintered light of hope.  His rough, farm-like attire suggests his civilian status and voluntary spirit to help settle the conflict.  The shovel and pick ax beneath him refer to just some of the contributions and duties of these men of African descent;  digging trenches, forging canals, and yes, preparing graves.  Lots of graves.   

Another man wears the brass letters US and an eagle on his buttons and supports himself with a rifle, a reminder of the bloody sacrifices made, here used symbolically as an instrument to help pull a wounded nation back to health. He looks hopefully to a future of freedom in a land that was indeed settled based on a hope of just that.  

The critically injured man in the middle represents the pain, horror and trauma of the war itself (Sessums 2023). 

 

Through poignant reflections, Sessums provides a rare perspective on the monuments of VNMP as a sculptor. Understanding the artistic process with much more expertise than the everyday spectator, he acknowledges that, 

the sculptures themselves—were done by some of the greatest American sculptors… When many of these sculptures were placed so many years after the Civil War was over, it’s a little hard to argue that it was strictly a memorial because of the courage and the valor and of these men who were fighting essentially to preserve enslaved people or the institution of slavery (personal interview 2023)  

Sessums’ expertise extends beyond aesthetics or symbolism. He recognizes monument production as a layered craft involving an intimate connection and emotional process between the sculptor and the figure. For the 1st and 3rd Infantry Regiment of African Descent monument, Sessums conducted months of research in the VNMP and various archives as a prologue before beginning his design. While prototyping different themes and designs, he created a markup, which is an ideation of the monument one-third of its final size. Then, the commission to erect the monument approved the final design and verified its historical accuracy. Afterward, a New Mexico foundry received a “point-up” from Sessums, enlarged the sculpture, and crafted the mother mold that the bronze is cast in to produce the monument. “It’s a very involved, long, expensive process,” Sessums added (ibid.). 

In February 2004, the bronze mold arrived in the back of a flatbed truck. Sessums described the moment, stating, 

As it was being lowered, I saw my work that I had put so much effort and energy and emotion and research into… As I saw it being lowered down on the pedestal, I noticed over my shoulder there was an elderly Black man standing by me and I did not know who he was, nor did I think he probably didn’t know who I was, and so I turned to him and said, ‘what do you think?’ And he said, ‘I have worked as a custodian and a groundskeeper in this park for 30 years. I never dreamed I would see the day that a monument like this would be installed,’ and he had a tear on his face. When I realized at that moment as much effort and emotion as I had put into this, there was no way I could comprehend what he, a Black man in Mississippi, was seeing at that moment with the installation of this monument. And my hope, at that point—that very point and very time—was that this would not only serve to improve discussions about the history, but could somehow, in a metal, human shaped form on a pedestal with an inscription plaque on the front, could somehow be just a little piece of healing for race relations in the South as we move forward as humankind trying to figure out how to understand the past and how to move forward and evolve from it into a more civil society (personal interview 2023).

Another man who remembers that morning well is Dr. Robert Walker, a historian and Vicksburg’s first Black mayor, who led the initiative and commission to erect the statue. Walker advocated for erecting the statue to illuminate the overlooked history of the contributions of USCT soldiers, particularly from Milliken’s Bend. Though the Battle of Milliken’s Bend took place on the other side of the Mississippi River in Louisiana, Walker fought for this monument to be located in the VNMP rather than a more geographically appropriate spot like in Grant’s Canal in Delta, LA, or even in the city proper, for two tactical reasons: to ensure visitors would see the statue and to guarantee its perpetual care under federal management. Walker recalled that the process to erect the statue took 16 years, and was met with resistance by those who preferred to keep the USCT contributions silent: 

Some of the things that were done were just really insulting to me, from some people who I knew knew better… but they were afraid of the truth and it reminds me so much of this critical race theory junk. But we would not let truth be denied. So we fought—we fought—and the result was that monument within the 1800 acres of the Vicksburg National Military Park (personal interview 2023). 

In one conceptual framework, the VNMP’s commemorative landscape can be seen as one monument. Within this framework, the 1st and 3rd Infantry Regiment of African Descent monument is an example of co-location, defined by the Monuments Toolkit as “the act of adding additional monuments to temper the meaning and significance of the original monument.” The “original monument” is the VNMP commemorative landscape as designed by the first park commission, featuring monuments en masse to memorialize white soldiers while omitting the history of the USCT in the siege. The addition of the 1st and 3rd Infantry Regiment of African Descent monument in 2004 introduced a new narrative to VMNP that tempered the meaning of the existing monumental landscape. This sculpture and the community drive to include it in the park has set a precedent for bolstering interpretation in and around the VNMP.

2.4. Surrender Summer – Snapshot of the Vicksburg National Military Park in 2023

In July 2023, central Mississippi witnessed the 160th anniversary of the Siege of Vicksburg. The VNMP, in partnership with the Friends of VNMP, hosted a series of morning activities that included artillery demonstrations and meet and greets with reenactors. That Saturday, a dozen locals took advantage of the early hours when the park was closed to vehicles to utilize the grounds as a recreation space. A sign along a park roadway that states, “Entering Confederate Lines,” is an apt metaphor for the territory and the narratives that largely continue in some of Vicksburg’s smaller museums and spaces that are not directly associated with the federal park.

In the VNMP visitor center, guests enjoyed the air-conditioning while conversing with park staff and volunteers. Next to the park map, an interpretive display acknowledges that Southern states seceded from the U.S. in an attempt to preserve the institution of African American enslavement, ultimately leading to the Civil War. A film in the auditorium discusses the tactical highlights of the siege, and life-sized dioramas and artifacts provide additional information about life in and around the Siege of Vicksburg. The souvenir section featured books on Surrender Day on the same display that spotlighted Juneteenth a few weeks before. Two women posed for photos with Ulysses S. Grant and John C. Pemberton, living historians who also work as a motivational speaker and a tour guide, respectively. 

Outside, visitors trickled across the parking lot to watch cannon demonstrations as the park’s Surrender Weekend programming began. Union reenactors reared the heavy artillery outside the visitor center, whereas the Confederate reenactors stood by the statue of Jefferson Davis. Some boys donned blue or gray souvenir caps while waiting for cannon blasts, but most spectators gravitated to one particular reenactor: Douglas the Camel. There is an informal monument to Douglas in Soldier’s Rest, the Confederate cemetery in the city’s oldest public burial grounds. Of the 5,000 Confederate headstones, Douglas’ is by far the most decorated with a smattering of loose change, a feather, and a faded souvenir flag.  

One of the first NPS signs reminds visitors to remember the sacrifices of the citizens who “fought each other to the death over ideals about what America should be.” Atop one of the highest points in the park, the Shirley House and the Illinois Monument preside over the commemorative landscape. The words, “With Malice Toward None With Charity For All – Let Us Have Peace,” wrap around the Pantheon-inspired frieze, and a gold eagle stares over the vista of the battlefield. At the house, reenactors from the 45th Illinois Regiment interact with guests. An NPS Park Ranger meticulously inspects each reenactor’s musket, approving or denying their participation before the firearm demonstration. Inside the Shirley House, period furniture and accouterments decorate the space with a schoolhouse scene in a rear room. The class chalkboard asks, “What educational programs are important?” The replies consisted mainly of children’s signatures and doodles, with only two engaged answers: “Headstart” and “No CRT.”

North of the Shirley House, the tour road ascends the bluffs through a wooded section of the park. In this corner of the park, Grant Avenue features six state monuments. However, a tornado damaged the 1906 Rhode Island memorial, a bronze statue depicting an infantryman lifting a tattered American flag. It is currently in storage as repairs to the pedestal are underway. More severe storms in 2020 caused significant erosion in the park’s northern acreage, preventing access to four more Union state monuments and the Navy Memorial. However, visitors can still see the modern abstract Kansas memorial erected in 1960.  

Outside the park on Fort Hill Drive, local neighborhood children advertised basil lemonade to overheated VNMP visitors hoping to catch some residual revenue from Surrender Weekend. Fort Hill Drive is one of a few access roads to the park that remains and turns into Cherry Street – one of the main corridors in downtown Vicksburg. Families donning Antebellum and Confederate period costumes meandered on the lawn of the Old Courthouse Museum. The vehicles parked nearby similarly donned stickers with variations of the Stars and Bars emblem. 

Approaching the front door between the Doric columns, the site of the Bonnie Blue flag, another unofficial flag of the Confederacy, idled over the speaking gallery in the stale, humid air. There were by far more reenactors than spectators idling about. Surprisingly, the grounds only have two statues – a bust of Jefferson Davis gazing pensively to the south alongside his second wife, Varina Howell Davis. 

Back at the VNMP for the second half of Surrender Weekend, reenactors from Kennesaw managed the Confederate firing demonstrations. A magnolia tree provided a reprieve from the 103 heat index as these reenactors eagerly chatted with visitors. Two men bantered with one another from their folding chairs placed between the magnolia tree and another Jefferson Davis statue. Allegedly, a statue of Lincoln was supposed to complement Davis on the other side of the road. However, the commission for this initiative ran out of funding and only completed one monument. This depiction features a more emboldened CSA President wrapping his arm around the Stars and Bars flag and holding the Confederate constitution in his other hand. 

On Independence Day and the 160th anniversary of the surrender of Vicksburg, Vicksburgers gravitated downtown for festivities, denouncing the longstanding folklore that Independence Day goes uncelebrated because of the siege and surrender. After the firework show, one interlocutor shared that he had collected some opinions on monuments from visitors. Generally, these visitors, tourists from docked river cruises and Civil War buffs, supported the preservation of the monuments, equating it with the preservation of history. The interlocutor then stated, “Well, in that case, if they really believe it’s preserving history, we need more statues of the KKK in full garb, lynchings,” and other recounts of racially-fueled atrocities. He also believes that any surviving statue of Robert E. Lee needs “TRAITOR” engraved at every base with an addendum stating, “Responsible for the most civilian deaths on U.S. soil” (personal interview 2023).

Though some may see this view as extreme, the interlocutor touched on a consensus view among stakeholders interviewed for this study. The consensus view is that there is a need for more interpretation around the VNMP monuments and the park’s role as a heritage landscape, whose narrative is often dominated by other public history entities. A second recurring theme is that the monuments, in tandem with recontextualization, can act as a foundation of social and racial reconciliation, but there remain hindrances concerning access to this dialogue. 

Section 3: Control for Narrative and Heritage in Vicksburg

Though the consensus among Vicksburg residents and visitors is that they do not want the Civil War statues to be removed or relocated from the area, passive observations and interviews alluded that locals typically regard the memorial structures with a certain aloofness unless they are involved directly with the VNMP or by proxy through heritage tourism. However, considering Vicksburg’s dual role as a heritage landscape and tourist destination, a complex nexus remains centered around tourism, heritage, and control for narrative concerning the VNMP and Vicksburg’s history.

Only a few are typically privileged with the resources and decision-making power around memorialization intended for public consumption. Similarly, these few hold the power to cultivate a narrative around this memorialization. As David Thompson (2021) points out, “examination of the past through a monument is meant to be an observation of a narrative of history as it was written by its designer” (18). Heritage entities wield narrative power over the city’s and VNMP’s narrative and historical interpretation, regardless of their official association with the VNMP. By shaping the narrative of the Siege of Vicksburg surrounding its cause, tenure, and aftermath, they symbolically reinforce a nativist claim to VNMP and its interpretation. While tourism management plays a role in this through branding and marketing, the narrative power primarily manifests in the city’s public history spheres and, principally, its independent museums. 

3.1. Old Courthouse Museum (OCM)

Opened in 1948, the Old Courthouse Museum (OCM) operates under the auspices of the Vicksburg & Warren County Historical Society. The OCM provides a broad overview of Vicksburg’s history with various insights into the life of city residents. Rooms are dedicated to historic textiles, furniture, toys, and other material culture donated by locals. The museum also features rare artifacts and a private archival collection about the city.

The presentation of historical information concerning the siege and defense of Vicksburg at OCM emphasizes Lost Cause ideologies. Inside the foyer, free maps direct tourists to Soldier’s Rest, the Confederate cemetery. Similarly, marketing literature for the museum begins with “Confederate flags, including one never surrendered… the tie worn by Jefferson Davis at this inauguration as Confederate President…” as it lists off its numerous artifacts of note. A room behind the historic courtroom on the second floor features additional artifacts and information about Vicksburg’s most famous residents. Outside, a small plaque along the sidewalk briefly profiles Davis’ political career and mentions that it began at the courthouse. At the bottom of the plaque is a quote by white supremacist Thomas Dixon, author of The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan and other Lost Cause propaganda. 

3.2. A Personal Perspective 

Like the complicated historical narratives intermingle and clash around Vicksburg, Bertram Hayes-Davis sometimes navigates between two seemingly mutually exclusive planes. He acknowledges how the image of Jefferson Davis, his great-great-grandfather, has been used as a social moniker of oppression while also trying to recontextualize his ancestor’s image to show more about the man beyond the symbolism. Weaving in stories about Davis’ life beyond his CSA presidency, the Hayes-Davises offer a walking tour (along with a private tour of their home) that provides a broad historical background of Vicksburg before the Civil War and during the siege. In fact, the tour provided this researcher with more historical context of life in Vicksburg before the siege than any other source, highlighting another overlooked narrative in the heritage landscape. Over the last several years, Hayes-Davis has been frequently contacted regarding his ancestor’s image as a central figure in national controversies. He stated, “The monuments are divisive because people make a decision based on one particular fact about either an individual or the monument itself, and it becomes fact” (personal interview 2023). While Hayes-Davis does not support the destruction of monuments, he believes they should be relocated from public spheres into other spaces, such as private institutions, if they are deemed oppressive by communities. This stance has created some strife for Hayes-Davis among proponents and opponents of monument removal (Eligon 2018).  

3.3. The Vicksburg Civil War Museum

A lengthy mission statement, available for sale in the Vicksburg Civil War Museum shop, states, “Our goal is NOT to EDUCATE YOU. Our aim is to INSPIRE YOU to want TO BECOME MORE EDUCATED. We will achieve this mission by challenging fundamental inaccuracies of our interpretations of history versus factual history…” 

Charles Pendleton opened the Vicksburg Civil War Museum in 2021. Located on Washington Street, the central tourist corridor downtown, sightseers are constantly popping in and out of the brick townhouse. The private museum features abundant material culture from and about antebellum Mississippi, the Civil War, and the siege. Pendleton has grown used to being the only Black man at Civil War collector events, and before letting visitors peruse the vast collection, he asks them to do two things. First, read the museum’s mission statement. Then, read a series of highlighted text along the back wall. These texts are full reprints of southern states’ secession letters. Various prose, highlighted in red, speak to the same reason for secession – preserving human enslavement. 

In line with his mission statement, Pendleton believes that with more education concerning monuments of oppression, “People would understand why the monuments are so offensive and they would be willing to take them down or would understand why the monuments are so important and they won’t want to take them down” (personal interview 2023). In Vicksburg, he supports the status quo: “There’s no need to debate whether the statues were racist, you know.  Their status or depictions of racist people—that’s a given. But I think we got to look at it another way…” (ibid.). Emphasizing the overlooked lives of the everyday Civil War soldier, Pendleton noted, “…they were forced into service and you know, if you’re on the battlefield, you don’t have time to explain your position, you’re defending your life” (ibid.) and that they too deserve a place in the commemorative landscape.

3.4. The Catfish Row Museum & the Shape Up Vicksburg Initiative

Further down Washington Street, the Catfish Row Museum seeks to offer visitors a taste of Vicksburg culture after the siege. Linda Fondren, Director of the Catfish Row Museum, worked closely with the VNMP. In late 2009, she began the Shape Up Vicksburg initiative to promote healthier lifestyles. Within a few months, Fondren led groups ranging from 20 to 150 people on walks through the park. VNMP became a space for physical activity, and NPS interpretive staff found an opportunity to discuss the history of the siege and the monuments with local Vicksburgers who typically would not enter the park. Fondren attributes this reluctance, especially from the local Black community, to perceptions that the VNMP glorifies the history of the Confederacy and fosters an unequal focus on specific aspects of the Civil War. The walks’ popularity offered NPS interpretive staff a chance to tell more inclusive histories about the VNMP. The African American Monument often became a home base for these walks and talks. Eventually, participants engaged in social dialogue that encouraged further reflection, such as “Can you remember a time that you were discriminated against?” As Fondren recounted, residents of different racial backgrounds were allowed to approach difficult questions freely and without judgment (personal interview 2023).

However, issues arose after a news story profiled an upcoming walk for Black History Month. Someone called in a bomb threat, but the walk continued as planned. As Fondren reflected, “if you cancel the walk, you’re giving in” (ibid.). The city provided additional local law enforcement to protect the attendees. Fondren believes it was not a local, but someone from afar who felt they had more claim to the battlefield and its history than Black residents. However, the park was long inextricably linked to its locals across demographics before NPS closed off a number of its minor access roads and raised admission costs. Several Vicksburger interlocutors mentioned how they frequented the VNMP for family gatherings, picnics, birdwatching, and other recreational activities during which the monuments often acted as mere backdrops to the natural scenery. In an Ebony article, “Why I Live in Mississippi,” published after his assassination, a picture shows Medgar Evers and his family at the battlefield with a cannon and a position plaque in the foreground. Evers, quoted in the caption, emphatically states, “The civil war battlefield at Vicksburg should remind all of us of the futility of armed conflict. Despite its history, it is one of the state’s most beautiful spots. I courted my wife there. I show it to my children when we can find the time to revisit the famous park” (Evers 1963, p. 144).

3.5. Moving Forward 

Like other interlocutors for this case study, Fondren believes that the status quo of the VNMP monuments can provide ample opportunities for unity and conversation provided they have more interpretation. As Sessums noted, “Let’s expand the conversation to be more inclusive and clear and more accurate historically, but still have the ability to see the sculptures to prompt some of those discussions” (personal interview 2023). Hon. Mayor Walker concurred, “I think there’s some merit to telling the whole story, not just the part that you like” (personal interview 2023). Walker commended NPS’ ongoing effort to recontextualize the VNMP, arguably inspired by the Mississippi African American Monument, and hopes to see the park “get some mileage out of that monument” (ibid.). 

The leadership at the VNMP, including Superintendent Carrie Mardorf and Chief of Interpretation Brendan Wilson, recognize that while the VNMP has been passively recontextualizing the monuments for some time now, there are still gaps. Interestingly, the calamitous storms of 2020 that closed access to multiple Union state monuments may provide an opportunity for other voices to be heard. The storms also caused erosion in the Vicksburg National Cemetery, particularly in a section where thousands of unknown soldiers are buried, primarily USCT members. The process of excavating, respectfully storing and analyzing the human remains before land stabilization and reinterment is a long, slow-moving bureaucratic process. It also involves communication and transparency with local and national stakeholders. There is a silver lining to this process, as Wilson noted, 

We saw it as an opportunity to open up to communities that we hadn’t been able to before, and it has brought in folks that are now able to help us broaden the stories we tell and make sure that we’re including their voices in that process. The hope is not only to empower the community, but it also helps us to find stories that we don’t know (personal interview 2023). 

While the official stance of the National Park Service is to preserve and protect all monuments within its stewardship, the Vicksburg National Military Park hopes to pivot itself as a leader in recontextualization over the next several years to make the park more inclusive for locals and visitors alike. Mardorf stated, 

We’re still focused on the work of placing Vicksburg in that larger context… and certainly not just balancing the Confederate versus Union story—but also African American, women, civilian, Native Americans—really telling the full depth and breadth of all stories here at Vicksburg. That’s been ongoing work and will continue to be in the future (personal interview 2023). 

Section 4: Conclusion

In the Vicksburg National Military Park, historic battlelines are demarcated with signs stating “Entering Confederate Lines” or “Entering Union Lines.” However, the complex narratives that orbit the Civil War monuments in Vicksburg do not follow such boundaries. Rather, the narratives form a web. The VNMP is both a singular monument and a series of monuments. It is an art park and a mortuary landscape – illuminating both the creativity and destructive nature of mankind. Public history entities outside of the VNMP have just as much sway into how the history of the siege is perceived. The state monuments are both the foci of the heritage landscape and mere ornamentation. The Confederate monuments do not wield the same symbolic potency of oppression as in other southern cities, but still perpetuate the Lost Cause ideology. Native Vicksburgers and outsiders feel a claim to the commemorative landscape for similar and contrasting reasons; similarly, this dichotomy extends along racial lines. Vicksburg’s Black history is underrepresented despite having a majority Black population. Stakeholders across demographics support the status quo framework because of the park’s economic draw to Vicksburg, or for their own ideological preservation. Other Mississippians seek to use the status quo to bring in more public history, both in the VNMP and Vicksburg at-large, particularly in and by the African American community. In this regard, the VNMP, and its monuments, is a case-study in the ongoing process of reinterpretation and recontextualization, even if that process seems slow-moving.

References

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United States Census Bureau. N.d. “QuickFacts: Vicksburg city, Mississippi [Data set].” Accessed August 8, 2023. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/warrencountymississippi,vicksburgcitymississippi/PST045222. 

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