The 100 Voices Project: the USCT commemoration at Allegheny County Cemetery

By MATTHEW ROBERT ISHAM on December 16, 2010 2:58 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks
Y'hoshua Murray contributes the following post and pictures of the recent commemoration of the sacrifice of Allegheny County's African-American volunteers who served in the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. Participants in the 100 Voices project assembled at the Allegheny County Cemetery to pay homage to the USCT veterans buried there and refurbish neglected gravesites. The 100 Voices project had staged a re-enactment of the Grand Review of USCT troops in Harrisburg at the beginning of November, marking the 145th anniversary of the initial event in which Harrisburg citizens honored African-American Union veterans.

The ceremony at the Allegheny County Cemetery did not simply honor the freedom struggles of African-Americans in the Civil War era. It also reclaimed an important site of historical memory marking in perpetuity the experiences and sacrifices of those individuals.

USCT Commemoration: Allegheny County Cemetery

November 14, 2010

In collaboration with the Senator John Heinz History Center, men from the "100 Voices" program went to Allegheny County Cemetery to pay homage to US Colored Troops buried there. The commemoration was attended by the Unites States Army Honor Guard, the Soldiers and Sailors Museum Drum and Bugle Core performers, representatives of the non-profit organization Wreaths for Veterans, and Ron Gancas, whose book, Field of Freedom: United States Colored Troops from Southwestern Pennsylvania, was used as part of the research for this project

Allegheny County Commemoration. Yhoshua R. Murray portraying Sgt. John W. Simpson.jpg

Commencing the ceremony was Andy Masich, President and CEO of the Heinz History Center, who discussed the history of Allegheny County and the process of locating the US Colored Troops. The entire crowd enthusiastically participated in the commemoration. American flags were placed at the gravesite of all the known US Colored troops interred there. Some volunteers also took time to restore several graves which had become overgrown with weeds and grass blocking the names on the marker stones. The words of Samuel Black summed up the general sentiment of all those who participated:

"These United States Colored troops buried in Allegheny County Cemetery are remembered and honored not only for their bravery in war, but for their act of liberation on behalf of four million enslaved Africans in America."

 

 - Samuel W. Black, Curator of the African American Collection at the Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh PA

 Allegheny Counry Commemoration. Jeffery Burton portraying Major Martin R. Delany.jpg

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