"The Spectre of Savagery:" Interpreting Racial Violence at Civil War State Parks
Abstract
The legacy of the Lost Cause influenced the development of Civil War battlefield state parks throughout the South during the Twentieth Century. Focusing on battlefields which demonstrated racial violence between white Confederate soldiers and black Union soldiers provides clarity on this ubiquitous narrative in white southern society. The history of the battles of Olustee, Poison Spring, Jenkins’ Ferry, and Fort Pillow provided a direct contrast to white southern accounts of the war and emphasized the role of slavery and racial hatred. The success of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s prompted many state parks to include more of the African American narrative at these sites. Self-proclaimed defenders of the Lost Cause urged state park officials and legislators to repute new interpretations as inconsistent from the original purpose of the site, which brings into focus the changing purpose of these sites in a changing southern society. The resulting controversies created by these changes offers an insight into how the shared authority of state historic sites, between state officials, heritage organizations, academia, and the public, controlled the interpretation presented at historic sites. The advancements in historical scholarship, state park operations, and public history constantly challenge traditional narratives, but the shared authority and local nature of the state park often provided a substantial barrier toward presenting new scholarship to the public. At the heart of this debate lay the uncomfortable realities of racial violence and the inability of either side to express a shared vision of the past.