ROCKY MOUNT, Va. – The Franklin County NAACP has unveiled a monument honoring 70 African American men who served in the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War, adding to the small but growing number of memorials recognizing these soldiers’ contributions.
The 14-foot monument, featuring a bronze figure bearing the names of these soldiers, stands outside First Baptist Church in Rocky Mount. It represents a rare tribute to U.S. Colored Troops in Virginia, emerging at a time when such recognition remains limited — despite more than 180,000 African American soldiers having made significant contributions to the Civil War effort.
“We pause to honor the men who fought for a freedom they had not fully yet received, who believed in a nation who did not yet believe in them, who marched with justice, with nothing but hope and heart in heaven on their side,” said Christopher Coates, pastor at First Baptist Church Rocky Mount, during the unveiling ceremony.
The monument emerged from a community initiative called “Raising the Shade,” which involved more than two years of extensive research by community volunteers and the Franklin County NAACP, with support from Virginia Tech and the Mellon Foundation.
“I was never taught about the United States Colored Troops. It was not in there at all. Not one mention”, said Glenna Moore, USCT Ancestry committee chair with Raising the Shade.
She added that she hopes the monument will change that for future generations: “I hope they feel pride, it is in the history books now about the United States Colored Troops. So now Franklin County students can really relate to it on a personal level”.
Larry Moore, Monument Installation Chair, sees the memorial as a catalyst for both local and national unity. “Hopefully this statue will begin to help the United States become the great nation that has the capability of becoming”, he said. Moore emphasized the monument’s potential to bridge divides: “It shows that Franklin County is coming together too, like the rest of the world, you know. We have our differences here, but we have a lot more in common, as everybody said, than we do that divides us. So hopefully it will be a point of interest that will help bring us together”.
Renowned artists Paul DiPasquale and Rick Weaver, whose works include Richmond’s Arthur Ashe statue and Virginia Beach’s King Neptune, were commissioned to design the bronze and granite memorial.
The initiative extends beyond the monument itself. A daylong public education and discussion forum is scheduled for May 31, 2025, at the W.E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center. The forum will explore the roles of Franklin County-born USCT soldiers in advancing the nation’s ideals of freedom and equality.
The monument serves dual purposes: commemorating these soldiers’ sacrifices while ensuring their stories emerge from historical obscurity. It stands as a testament to the crucial role African Americans played in preserving the Union and securing their own freedom during the Civil War.