Black veterans formed GAR posts to remember their service, do public good. The Lincoln Presidential Library is ensuring precious post documents endure

(Clockwise from top left) Delany post charter, Maj. Martin R. Delany, damaged charter from other post
(charter photos: ALPLM), Gustavus or Henry Booth with 5th Mass. Cavalry; same unit as Lewis Thompson
(Richard Carlile Collection as printed in Military Images; click all to enlarge)

Pvt. Enos Bond and the 17^th U.S. Colored Troops fought at the Battle of Nashville. Pvt. Lewis H. Thompson’s 5^th Massachusetts Cavalry took part in an assault on Confederates near Petersburg. And Sgt. Shederick Conaway of the famed 54^th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment survived the pitched fighting at Fort Wagner, the climactic scene in the film “Glory.”

Years later, these three men and seven other African-American veterans in Chicago founded Martin R. Delany Post #663 of the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization of Union Civil War veterans. (Delany, an influential abolitionist and author, was the first Black field officer in the U.S. Army. Photo below)

The Delany post met for at least a few years to socialize, discuss their war experiences and trauma, and support monuments, memory and charity – no doubt proud to have helped end slavery in the United States.

The charter of Post #663, which cemented the bond among Conaway and the others, recently underwent conservation at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill. Experts at ALPLM, which has 269 charters of GAR posts in its collection, have been cleaning, mending and rehousing scores of the documents.

“During their active lives (as documents) the charters were very often displayed, framed or unframed and exposed to light and unfavorable storage conditions,” Christopher Schnell, ALPLM manuscripts manager, told the Picket in an email.

Schnell says the GAR charters, made official with signatures and foil seals, are a boon for researchers and historians, and that’s why restoration is crucial.

“By working on individual documents, or by taking the time to examine an individual set of records, we can raise up the stories of underrepresented members of our collective past,” Schnell wrote in an article about the GAR foundational documents.

Member of 54th Massachusetts survived Fort Wagner

We don’t know exactly how the 10 men who started the Delany post may have known each other. Two, Lewis McGowan and Moses McGowan, served in the 109^th USCT and may have been related. It’s also difficult to ascertain how many may have been born into slavery.

1850 census lists Robert Conaway and  his children, including Shederick

Conaway is believed to have been born free in New Bern, which on the eve of the war had one of the largest concentrations of free people of color in North Carolina, according to the Craven County visitors center. (One source says he was actually born in Newton, N.C.)

His family moved to Cleveland, where Conaway worked as a waiter before enlisting in the 54^th Massachusetts.

A look at fold3.com, military and pension records and genealogy indexing services show multiple variations of the soldier’s first name (Shad, Shadrack, Shedrick, Shederick, Shaderick, Shadrick) and last name (Conway, Conaway).

List of Delany post members, including Conaway. Click to enlarge (Chicago History Museum)

Conaway was 19 when he enlisted in a Boston neighborhood in April 1863. One history says he was wounded at Fort Wagner.

The 54^th Massachusetts saw action at Olustee in Florida (Conaway was in the hospital at the time) and on islands around the Charleston area of South Carolina.

Conaway participated with Company G in the Battle of Honey Hill west of Beaufort, S.C, in November 1864, according to Schnell.

The soldier, who was promoted twice, was mustered out in August 1865.

The soldiers home in Milwaukee, which still provides services today (Wikipedia)

“After the war he went back to work in Cleveland and Chicago restaurants and hotels, married, and had at least one child. Near the end of his life, he moved into the Soldiers Home hospital in Milwaukee suffering from ’asthma’ and ‘heart disease,’” Schnell told the Picket.

Conaway died in February 1894 at age 50. He’s buried at a national cemetery in Milwaukee. I have been unable to come up with a photo of Conaway or any of the other nine charter members.

GAR was widespread, powerful and integrated

The names of the Delany post’s charter members – Bond (a retired police officer), Conaway, the McGowans, Thompson, William Banks of 1^st Michigan Colored Infantry, William French of the 109^th USCT, Peter French of the 6^th U.S. Colored Cavalry, Walter E. Johnson of 14th Regiment, Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, and Alexander Jackson, 17^th USCT, were written into history through the September 1888 charter. (Schnell believes the post eventually had 26 members.)

The GAR got its start in Illinois in 1866 and posts spread across the United States, with a peak membership of 400,000 in 1890. The Delany charter was issued three years after the death of its namesake. Illinois had nearly 800 posts.

“It had a profound effect on late-19th century politics, with its membership providing the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln and Grant, with a solid voting bloc in Northern states,” according to ALPLM. “The organization used this political power to encourage the federal government to establish a robust veteran’s pension program.” (GAR medal left, courtesy of ALPLM)

By being a racially integrated public institution, the GAR was extremely unusual for its time. Illinois had about 48 integrated posts, while Chicago has at least two all-Black (including Delany #663) and 37 all-white posts.

Historian Barbara A. Gannon, in “The Won Cause: Black and White Comradeship in the Grand Army of the Republic” (UNC Press, 2011),” wrote that “although black veterans still suffered under the contemporary racial mores, the GAR honored its black members in many instances and ascribed them a greater equality than previous studies have shown.”

Gannon told the Picket that before her book, people often described the GAR as a segregated group under the assumption that the posts were segregated by direction of the organization. Instead, she says, black veterans asked the state GAR to charter their posts and they had reasons for doing so.

“For example, they named their post after a famous African-American in the Civil War as was their prerogative.” Gannon says. “They did so to remind white Americans of their Civil War experience.”

According to Schnell, black posts participated alongside white and integrated posts in traditional GAR  activities “to observe Memorial Day cemetery exercises and church services to honor the Civil War dead, to march together in patriotic parades, such as one held in Chicago to commemorate the Constitution centennial in 1887, and to attend annual meetings, like when the Martin R. Delany post joined the 7,000 member Illinois delegation to attend the national ‘encampment’ at Detroit in 1891.”

James Lewis Henry (right, ALPLM photo), a veteran in the John Brown post in Chicago, was a statewide leader in the organization and helped organize suc activities. A free black man, Lewis fought in Federal cavalry units and later became a lawyer.

The Delany post, like others, maintained a small charity account for members in need, but other than holding meetings, “we don’t know about the inner workings of the group,” said Schnell.

The Chicago History Museum has a roster book and minute book for the Delany GAR post.

While the surviving charter at ALPLM is from 1888, the CHM roster book is marked 1879-1890. It’s possible the post’s first charter had to be replaced.

CHM reference librarian Maggie Cusick says the minute book is more narrative and contains about 60 pages of content.

One of the pages about the post’s activity is written by acting adjutant Bushrod Washington.

A soldier by that name served in the 26^th USCT, according to the National Park Service. Washington, a Virginian, died in Chicago in 1890, just a month after making the entry.

One of the Delany post volumes at the Chicago History Museum (Courtesy of CHM)

Mending these important documents follows a formula

When GAR posts ceased operating (the date for the Martin R. Delany post is unclear), records were turned to headquarters and folded several times. Charters often were 17 inches by 22 inches. The Illinois State Historical Society for many years held them once the GAR became inactive. The ALPLM eventually took charge of the documents.

“When retrieving post records for researchers, ALPLM staff would occasionally find charters, or the remains of them, that had to be placed on hold for conservation before they could be viewed or imaged,” says Schnell.

In 2019, conservators Bonnie Parr and Ginny Lee began the exacting work of carefully “relaxing,” or unfolding long-folded documents, cleaning, mending, removing acid and rehousing them (Mylar sleeves and oversize folders stored in flat drawers).

While the Delany charter needed just basic cleaning and mending, other documents are in pieces, officials say. About 40 GAR charters in the most serious condition are yet to be treated. (At left, a Delany post record with names of members. Courtesy ALPLM, click to enlarge)

“There have been a few charters with notes to the effect that they are replacements for originals destroyed by fire (and even one destroyed by a tornado). I’ve wondered about those incidents and how they affected the GAR members of those posts,” says Parr.

As an example of her work, Parr sent a photo of the much-folder, yellowed and brittle charter for Post #468 in Downers Grove. She believes some of its wear is due to long-term light exposure while in a GAR hall.

Parr recently completed work on a charter for the Gov. Richard Yates Post #687, an African American chapter, in Jacksonville, Ill. She put the document in a humidity chamber – made up of a rack in a sink, with damp towels nearby. The sink was covered with plastic. During the day, she gradually unfolded the paper as it “relaxed” from high humidity. The paper was dried and flattened between blotters.

“My satisfaction comes from taking the folded paper – which can’t be handled without damage – through conservation treatments that unfold and stabilize the fragile paper so that it can be read and be accessible for research,” says Parr.

Post #687 charter before unfolding, treatment area and the dried document (Courtesy ALPLM)

Parr uses specific tools during the process of lining – which involves a support system for the document while undergoing the final stages of conservation.

“I use a sheet of acid-free Japanese tissue for the lining and wheat starch paste to attach the GAR document to the tissue. I let it air dry for several days,” she says.

"Then, I use a metal spatula to carefully lift the tissue/charter off the lining surface, trim the excess tissue from the edges, deacidify the document, place it in a polyester film (a chemically inert plastic) sleeve, and send it back to the Manuscripts Department (where it ‘lives’).”

The #687 charter during the lining process and the final product (Courtesy ALPLM)

Schnell tells the Picket the GAR charters are among the most heavily used manuscripts at the library.

“People interested in family history use the records to search for their veteran forebearer. Local historians seek information about the veterans (and their activities) who lived in their communities in the past,” he says.

Museums have asked for reproductions of the documents for purposes of exhibit. The charter conservation project was started because a county historical society asked for a scan of their local post charter and it needed repair before digital scanning.

“With restored charters as a starting point, we can continue the GAR’s work of honoring the sacrifices of Civil War veterans by going beyond the ink and paper to recover the stories of the people who once fought to restore the Union and end slavery,” Schnell wrote in his blog post.

Did Chicago dig find footing for Camp Douglas barracks that held Rebel POWs? Stay tuned.

Gregory believes dark area in photo may have been footing 

While last month’s excavation in the back yard of a Chicago residence yielded a few interesting artifacts – including an 1854 half dime, clay pipe fragments and buttons – what most excited the lead archaeologist was a stain in exposed soil.

Michael Gregory said the 29-inch square stain could be a footing that supported a pier or post that held up part of a barracks used to house Confederate prisoners at Camp Douglas during the Civil War. The camp also served as a training center for Federal troops headed for the front.

Gregory cautions that he is not certain about the discovery. That’s why he wants his team of volunteers to return this fall to the Bronzeville residence.

“If we expose a second one, I am going to be pretty well convinced we have found the structural features for the barracks.” He estimates about 66 such buildings were erected.

Detail of rectangular dark spot that may be footing (M. Gregory)

Reverse of coin found early in dig (Michael Gregory)

The Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation is trying to find precise locations of camp features in an urban area that has seen extensive development in the past century, and where much of history is covered by miles of pavement and buildings. 

The crew was down about two and a half feet when it found the square, surrounded by circles that may be evidence of fish beds.

“When you get down and look at it closely … you can see where the lighter sand has washed back into the edges,” said Gregory.

“I had hoped it would be 12 inches or more deep and yield courses of brick or limestone. As it turns out, the feature is only about three inches deep and did not produce a brick or limestone pad. Still, I think it is a good candidate for a footing.”

Gregory said plans indicate the footings may not have been placed as deep as one might expect.

“The shallowness of the footing may represent the military's belief that the barracks would not be needed for very long and as a result, no more effort than was absolutely necessary was expended on their construction. After all, they were for an enemy who was in active rebellion against the Union.”

Labeled layers of time periods, including CD (Camp Douglas)

The Camp Douglas foundation spoke with archaeologists on the site of another prison, Johnson’s Island, off Sandusky, Ohio, but were not able to glean a sufficient comparison, Gregory said.

Adding to the difficulty is the fact that no camp structures exist today. While it has some clues, the foundation is not precisely sure where the sites it has excavated over the past few years correspond with camp plans. Confirming a camp feature would help, Gregory said.

Prosser buttons

Even if the team finds two footings in a row, it may not know if it they are on the north side of a barracks building, or the south.

In late April, 20 volunteers excavated three units in the same back yard where the foundation dug in October 2017, when they exposed a Minie ball.

Photos from this dig show a specific layer for the Camp Douglas period. But, as Gregory noted, some related artifacts are a little out of place because of postwar construction that affected soil levels in the yard.

The half dime was found closer to the surface, and the same was true with a couple Prosser buttons. The buttons are glass-like, made of ceramic and date after 1840.

(Photos courtesy of Michael Gregory)

Gregory's sketch of the excavated soil layers

“The only real reason that coin is there because of Camp Douglas,” said Gregory.

Most of the artifacts, however, found this time date to postwar occupation of the site. “Unfortunately, we did not find any definitive military items, at least among the artifacts I saw.”

The homeowner has invited the foundation to come back in late September or early October to look for a second footing.

“If at that time, we expose a second feature similar in appearance to the one we excavated last month, I will be convinced we have located a barracks, which is exciting to think about, because we can then begin to relate the camp or parts of it to modern urban features, something we have yet to be able to do with any precision and certainty,” Gregory said.

Archaeologists return to Chicago home's back yard to search for evidence of Camp Douglas

Archaeologists and volunteers are returning to a Chicago residence to dig for more artifacts and evidence of Camp Douglas, a Federal military training center and prison camp during the Civil War.

Last fall's dig (Michael Gregory)

Last fall, a team unearthed debris, several postwar artifacts and one that did date to the period: A .58-caliber Minie ball, about 75 centimeters (30 inches) down, a depth where they were expecting to find Camp Douglas materials.

Diggers will again work in a backyard vegetable garden inside what is believed to be the prisoners’ living area. They will be working in two spots in the garden.

The Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation is trying to find precise locations of camp features in an urban area that has seen extensive development in the past century, and where much of history is covered by miles of pavement and buildings. 

Archaeologist Michael Gregory, a member of the foundation’s board, said the work began Thursday and will likely continue through next Wednesday, April 25. The team found a half dime from 1854, he said Friday.

The home, built in 1885, is in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood.

Bullet found in home's back yard (Michael Gregory)

The resident had visited one of a half dozen such digs at nearby John J. Pershing Magnet School for Humanities on Calumet Avenue. “He loves the neighborhood and loves everything that goes along with it,” Gregory said this week.

Gregory said the goal this time is to get a better view of the camp layer deposit, recover artifacts if present “and maybe find some type of feature --pier support for a building, pit, fence post holes, etc.-- that we can relate to plans we have for the camp in order to know more specifically where within Prisoners Square we are excavating.”

He believes the location where the bullet was found was relatively undisturbed since the end of the Civil War.

The foundation is trying to bring protection to the 60 acres by having it listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That's an involved process that requires evidence that camp-related features survive, even if underground. No buildings survive.

Camp Douglas originally served as a Union training facility for about 40,000 soldiers – including African-Americans -- being rushed to the front. Much of the site was converted to a prison camp for 26,000 Confederates. About 4,000 Rebels died at the prison.

Gregory said the organization also hopes to conduct ground-penetrating radar surveys at six sites, most on public right of way, later this spring. The GPR can see deeper in the soil for any undisturbed camp features.

Camp Douglas exhibit at museum in Wisconsin (Michael Gregory)

Some of the artifacts found in the neighborhood in the past few years are on temporary display at the Civil War Museum in Kenosha, Wisc.

How does your garden grow? Chicago home yields Minie ball during search for more Camp Douglas artifacts, features

Recent dig at residence in a series of townhouses (Michael Gregory)

Archaeologists usually aren’t welcome on private property. But Michael Gregory and some colleagues proved to be the exception when a Chicago homeowner allowed them to excavate in a back yard garden late last month.

The resident had visited one of a half dozen such digs at nearby John J. Pershing Magnet School for Humanities on Calumet Avenue. He talked with Gregory and others who are looking for further evidence of a Federal military training center and prison camp known as Camp Douglas.

“’I have a garden in the back yard. You are welcome to excavate it,’” Gregory recalls the homeowner telling him. After working out details, Gregory and about a dozen others worked at the Bronzeville neighborhood residence on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30.

“As we dug down to the camp deposit level, we did find a number of interesting artifacts -- gilded ceramic sherds, milk bottles, ceramic doll parts, a toy train engine, a Navy insignia clasp, a burned book, canning jar parts,” the archaeologist told the Picket. The items were most likely dumped in the early 20^th century.

(Courtesy of Michael Gregory)

And there was a little pay dirt in the single rectangular hole dug into a vegetable garden: A .58-caliber Minie ball, about 75 centimeters (30 inches) down, a depth where they were expecting to find Camp Douglas materials.

The Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation and volunteers are trying to find precise locations of camp features in an urban area that has seen extensive development in the past century, and where much of history is covered by miles of pavement and buildings. 

They are stymied by the fact that nothing from the massive Union facility is still standing.

But there have been some successes. Foundation official David Keller told the Picket a couple years back that the 2012 discovery of the camp headquarters foundation was an important find.

The crew worked last week under overcast skies and in mid-40s temperatures. They were cheered and fortified by the homeowner’s hospitality: A warm fire and hot soup.

“I am hoping the Minie ball is not our only artifact,” said Gregory as he discussed plans for a return to the home in the spring to dig in three more locations. The work at the 1880s, two-story home was the first Camp Douglas excavation on private property.

One bullet, even for just two days’ work, doesn’t seem much, but it is helping the foundation in its effort to publicize the camp’s story and bring possible protection to the 60 acres by having it listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The latter is a lengthy process and has rigorous requirements. The Chicago City Council passed a resolution endorsing approval of that designation.

Camp Douglas originally served as a Union training facility for about 40,000 soldiers – including African-Americans -- being rushed to the front. Much of the site was converted to a prison camp for 26,000 Confederates. About 4,000 Rebels died at the prison.

Andrew Leith, who is assisting the foundation and works for the Chicago Cultural Alliance, said the significance of Camp Douglas is on par with Andersonville National Historic Site, home to Camp Sumter, a Confederate POW camp, in central Georgia.

“Right in our back yard we have one of the most notorious prisoner-of-war camps from the Civil War,” Leith told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Confederate POWs at Camp Douglas (Library of Congress)

The prison’s 200 structures went down when the site was dismantled in December 1865. Camp Douglas largely faded into history. The rural tract soon became part of Chicago's rapid growth that drew hundreds of thousands of African-Americans during the Great Migration more than a century ago.

While the ongoing excavations  – most on the school grounds -- have largely found items produced after the Civil War, experts and volunteers have recovered Minie balls, a Union cap pin, smoking pipes, a haversack J-hook, grommets, a spread-eagle button, an 1859 penny and other Camp Douglas items.

Gregory, who formerly was an assistant professor at DePaul University, said the foundation met two goals in the recent excavation: It found materials (the bullet) from the camp and determined that the soil was “intact,” or undisturbed by significant development.

He said the discovery of dark, circular stains in the pit may be evidence of fish beds in what was once a marshy area. “We have seen these stains in other units at Pershing School, and when seen there, they certainly defined undisturbed deposits.”

Sketch of the camp (National Archives)

The team believes the home site was little disturbed beyond construction of a basement. “No one has come in there or taken a bulldozer, grader or shovels and really mucked up the lower deposit,” said Gregory. “We are seeing a fairly intact level of the camp.”

The home is just to the east of what’s believed to have been the location of Confederate barracks at Camp Douglas. While Gregory and other haves found a trench and other ground features that may be indicative of construction on a small part of the Civil War camp, they don’t know exactly where in the presumed barracks area they are digging.

Thus far, the archaeological effort in Chicago’s South Side has not found any posts that define the stockade wall. “That would be our dream,” said Gregory.

The barracks in the POW area rested on brick piers, experts believe. Gregory theorizes the buildings were carted off months after the war ended and the piers knocked down. “If we could find a pier than we can begin to understand where we are excavating.”

Previous find (Courtesy CDRF)

The Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation (CDRF) wants to show state and federal officials that enough of the site – even underground – remains to consider it worthy of recognition and a protective designation. Gregory said he has done Google overlays over old fire insurance maps, and the result shows many sites have not been disturbed in recent years.

“I suspect between 35 to 50 percent of the camp area has a moderate to high potential to reveal intact camp deposits,” he said.

Archaeology is an exacting science, and field work and analysis take time.

“It’s not as ‘Indiana Jones’ as a lot of us would like to portray it to be,” Leith told the Chicago paper. “It’s tedious and methodological.”

(M. Gregory)

The foundation hopes to return to the home next spring, and perhaps dig in grassy rights of way – areas that are not covered by concrete. Getting access to an area to excavate is challenging.

Gregory said the homeowner was pleased with the archaeological project, including cleanup that put top soil back in place.

“I think they were happy history is there and they are letting us get to it.”

Artifacts from site of Chicago's Camp Douglas a window into war, the Great Migration

Minie balls found during Camp Douglas dig (Courtesy of  Michael Gregory)

The 34 bankers boxes are filled with seemingly ordinary items from a Chicago neighborhood that has seen extraordinary change since its days as home to Camp Douglas, a Federal training center and prisoner of war camp during the Civil War.

Archaeologist Michael Gregory plans to further analyze a wide array of these artifacts at his Milwaukee home. There’s the 1908 license tag for a horse-drawn vehicle, a water dish for a bird cage, Canadian cheese tubs and a ceramic dust bin.

“It has been one of the most interesting collections I have ever worked on,” Gregory recently told the Picket.

Nestled in those containers are 200 artifacts related to Camp Douglas. About 4,000 Confederates died at the prison, most of whom are buried in a mass grave. Gregory, formerly associated with DePaul University, has worked with the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation on a half dozen digs in a corner of the camp.

(Photo courtesy of Michael Gregory)

While those excavations have largely found items produced after the Civil War, experts and volunteers have recovered Minie balls, a Union cap pin, smoking pipes, a haversack J-hook, grommets, a spread-eagle button, an 1859 penny (below), and other Camp Douglas items.

Gregory and David Keller, head of the foundation, believe they have clearly identified the camp, though there are significant challenges for urban archaeology.

“The history of the site shows initial significant development between 1900 and 1915.  The property remained substantially unchanged until 1950, when urban renewal affected the area,” said Keller. “There remains about 40% of the property that is available for further study. Alleys and back yards have been identified and offer the best opportunities.”

The excavations, which started in October 2013, have taken place on a grassy lot near a school on Chicago’s South Side. It is in what was the prisoner barracks area in the 60-acre site. The digs have been about 3 feet deep.

U.S. button (Camp Douglas Restoration Found.)

Gregory said it’s difficult to know exactly where in the camp site they are working.

“Our problem right now is we find something that looks like a ditch between barracks, but we will find another feature that would be right in the walkway area,” he said.

One eventual aim is to find a portion of the western stockade wall. “The wall is (elusive) since we cannot find posts or other evidence,” said Keller. “They are likely affected by the development of the property.  However, the streets are largely unchanged.  This gives us a 30-foot area where the fence might have been located.”

Hook for a haversack (Michael Gregory)

Fetid conditions for the prisoners

The Union facility was constructed in an area called Douglas, named for Stephen A. Douglas, the famous Illinois politician.

Camp Douglas originally served as a training facility for Illinois soldiers being rushed to the front. Much of the site was converted to a prison camp. About 26,000 Confederates were housed at the camp during the war.

“Had the military been involved (the site) never would have been selected,” said Keller. “It was noted for its flooding, swampy conditions.”

Confederate POWs at Camp Douglas (Library of Congress)

The U.S. Sanitary Commission, during an inspection, found that the “amount of standing water, of unpoliced grounds, of foul sinks, of general disorder, of soil reeking with miasmic accretions, of rotten bones and emptying of camp kettles … was enough to drive a sanitarian mad.”

It earned well the sobriquet “Andersonville of the North.”

Officials estimate 1 in 7 Confederate prisoners died, although the exact number is not known. Keller said he believes between 5,000 and 6,000 perished.

Pipe bowl likely used at camp (Camp Douglas Restoration Found.)

Area became a 'Black Metropolis'

The prison’s 200 structures went down when the site was dismantled in December 1865. Camp Douglas largely faded into history.

What used to be a rural tract just outside city limits soon became part of Chicago’s rapid growth. A part of Douglas became known as Bronzeville. It attracted German Jews after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It was home to the Swift family and the Marx Brothers.

But the biggest change was on the horizon.

Hundreds of thousands of African-Americans came to Chicago from the South during the Great Migration at the turn of the 20^th century. They wanted a new start after enduring Jim Crow laws.

1908 license tag for horse-drawn vehicle (Michael Gregory)

While they didn’t get away from segregation, they were able to establish an area where they have left a cultural, arts and economic imprint.

“At the Regal Theater on 47th Street, notable entertainers such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington performed frequently, and Nat “King” Cole got his start,” according to articles about the South Side on the website of TV station WTTW. “Other notable Bronzeville residents included boxer Jack Johnson, gospel legend Mahalia Jackson, journalist and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells, the writer Gwendolyn Brooks, and many others.”

The area did run into hard times.

“Following World War II, decades of economic disinvestment and social change, Bronzeville's luster diminished. Businesses shut their doors and African-Americans moved further south due to the elimination of restricted housing covenants,” says a neighborhood council.

Animal bones found on site (Michael Gregory)

The recent decades have been kinder, though, according to an October 2014 article in the Chicago Tribune, crime has remained a problem.

“Today, Bronzeville is experiencing renewed energy and development, with an emphasis on the arts and a respect for the rich cultural legacy that Bronzeville has brought to Chicago as a whole,” writes WWTW. It is a center of African-American enterprise.

There’s been a recent move in Congress to create the Bronzeville/Black Metropolis National Heritage Area.

Digging in a land of asphalt

Gregory has worked on all but one excavation outside the John J. Pershing Magnet School for Humanities on Calumet Avenue. He has studied flood insurance and other maps to learn more about the neighborhood during and after the Civil War.

(Wikipedia/public domain)

The foundation is trying to obtain National Register for Historic Places status for the Camp Douglas site, a move it believes should add protection for what’s left. “A listing is a long shot, but important step in recognition of the camp,” said Keller. “The process should be completed early next year.”

While most of the area is under pavement or has been redeveloped, Gregory said it is important to note that “even if you had 140 years of development, it doesn’t mean archaeological resources have been destroyed.”

Ink well may be from camp (M. Gregory)

Teams were able to find a rectangular pit, but Gregory doesn’t know its purpose. A laundry facility is a possibility. He said he believes some smoking pipes pieces and bowls may well be associated with the Civil War. It’s known that one Confederate POW procured or made them for comrades.

Many camp subsurface features have been destroyed by development, along with an untold number of artifacts, since the war. Still, Gregory believes future excavations may find camp-related ditches and footings.

“We have had some residents in the area who said they would be happy for us to bring ground penetrating radar in their yard,” said the archaeologist. “It may provide little windows” into Camp Douglas’ story.