Meet the Bluejackets:  Exploring the Lives of Immigrant and African American Sailors in the U.S. Navy Mississippi River Squadron

Meet the Bluejackets:  Exploring the Lives of Immigrant and African American Sailors in the U.S. Navy Mississippi River Squadron

VICKSBURG, Miss. – On April 9, Vicksburg National Military Park will host a special program Meet the Bluejackets:  Exploring the Lives of Immigrant and African American Sailors in the US Navy Mississippi River Squadron. 

Explore the stories of City Class ironclad crews, with a focus African American and immigrant sailors, and how new innovations in digital humanities allow us to tell the stories of those often hardest to find in history.

This program is developed from the Civil War Bluejackets project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council of the UK which seeks to transcribe, using computer learning and AI techniques, based on crowd-sourced citizen science, the muster rolls of over 630 US Navy vessels during the Civil War. The muster rolls, taken on board ship every three months, list the names, age, nativity, occupation, citizenship, height, complexion and hair color of every navy sailor, who was not an officer. They are a treasure trove of information on the diversity of working-class Americans who served in the navy. Particularly interesting are the “City Class” ironclad gunboats of the Mississippi River “Brown Water” Squadron, including Vicksburg National Military Park’s USS Cairo. Serving on the Mississippi and its tributaries, these vessels recruited from across the United States, but especially from among the recently emancipated men of the lower Mississippi River Valley. For the first time, many formerly enslaved men put their full names on the official record and this project is bringing renewed attention to their stories.

Attendees will get a hands-on opportunity to learn how to conduct this research and trace Civil War sailors through military records.

For more information: Under-Told Stories Speaker Series – Vicksburg National Military Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Co-Sponsored by the Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park & Campaign 

Event Time:
5:30PM

Location:

Visitor Center Theater

Vicksburg National Military Park

3201 Clay Street

Vicksburg, MS 39183

The event is free. No entrance fee will be required.