Scholars to Lead Symposium on Vicksburg Massacre

VICKSBURG, Miss. — In remembrance of the 125th anniversary of the nearly twenty-three African Americans killed in December of 1874, known as the Vicksburg Massacre, a symposium will be held Dec. 6, 2024, featuring two leading scholars sharing their ongoing research and discoveries.

The event begins Friday, Dec. 6, at 5:30 p.m. at Bethel AME Church, 805 Monroe St., and includes two sessions:

• Al Dorsey, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of History at Jackson State University, will present “Vicksburg Massacre: Causes and Consequences of Black Participation in the Body Politic during the Age of Redeemer Violence.”
• Beth Kruse, Ph.D., Mellon Fellow for the African American Experience in Vicksburg from the Civil War through Reconstruction, will present “Heroes and Martyrs: Warren County’s African American Men and Women Fight for Equality in 1874.”

Sheriff Peter Crosby was elected as the first African American Sheriff of Warren County in 1873. Throughout 1874 attempts were made to intimidate him and other African Americans in the area, and on December 2, 1874, armed white men with the Taxpayers’ League demanded his resignation. Sheriff Crosby issued requests for aid to restore him to office.

On December 7, 1874, African American citizens marched to Vicksburg in support of Sheriff Crosby, and were intercepted by groups of armed white men. In the ensuing violence of that day and the weeks after, approximately 23 African Americans were killed throughout Warren County. Reports of violence lasted until around Christmas Day until federal troops arrived and Sheriff Crosby was reinstated.

The symposium is free and open to the public.

A remembrance ceremony and wreath laying will be held Saturday, Dec. 8 at 10 a.m. at the Shirley House.

These events are sponsored by the National Park Service and the Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign.