Rebel on Main

I'm delighted to bring you a guest episode from History Daily. November 19, 1863. In the midst of a bloody Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln delivers one of the most famous speeches in American History.

Jenna’s petition stalls. Blue Lives Matter outpaces Black Lives Matter. But in 2023 a new surge of activism reignites the controversy. What will happen to Jessamine County’s Confederate statue? And what does the statue’s fate reveal about the soul of the divided southern community? Resources For pictures of the courthouse square, First Baptist Church, and Jessamine County during the Spanish-American War, head to https://www.rebelonmain.com/episode7. David Blight, Race and Reunion: The Civil War in America Engage Check out our website at www.rebelonmain.com. To support future creative projects, click here: www.rebelonmain.com/support. Email [email protected] to let me know what you think of this episode of Rebel on Main. Timestamps 00:00      David describes the courthouse lawn. 01:51      Locals say what they think should happen. 16:25      David talks with Judge West in their first—and only—sit-down interview. 19:53      A new surge of activism begins at the 2023 MLK Day observances. 31:04      Activists confront the county magistrates at a public hearing.    37:20      David finds an archival gem and reflects on the meaning of “reconciliation” during the Spanish-American War—and again in our times. 44:36      David walks from the statue to First Baptist Church for a final conversation with Pastor Moses. 47:08      Pastor Moses reflects on his disappointments and hope that change is going to come. Transcript: Visit www.rebelonmain.com/episode7. Production team Writer and Host: David R. Swartz Original Music, Sound Design, and Mixing: Barry Blair Story Editor: Stephen Smith Artistic Design: Josh Smith and Lisa Weaver Swartz Thanks for listening!

Bob doesn’t care at all about the statue—until he does. A Canadian transplant to Jessamine, his ancestry traces back to abolitionist New England. But as the 2020 election approaches, Bob sees a political opening. For months prior to the election, he spends three hours a night working through a list of 13,500 Democrats conducting a telephone survey. The work is arduous and often dispiriting. It takes fifteen phone dials to get one person to talk, and sometimes that person just hangs up or refuses to answer Bob’s questions. Nevertheless, he is able to convince many pro-statue Democrats to switch parties. Confederate controversies cement the Republican takeover of Jessamine. Timestamps 01:38      David walks two doors down from his house to interview Bob 15:22      Bob describes his telephone survey and how he’s using it to defeat Democratic candidate Carolyn Dupont. 20:45      Pastor Moses responds. 25:03      Carolyn Dupont responds. 31:54      Blue Lives Matter rally at the courthouse 39:00      November 2020 43:52      David reflects on local politics and his relationship with Bob. Transcript: Visit www.rebelonmain.com/episode6. Engage Check out our website at www.rebelonmain.com. To support future creative projects, contribute here: www.rebelonmain.com/support Email [email protected] to let me know what you think of this episode of Rebel on Main. Resources For pictures of the Back the Blue rally and video of the scuffle at the courthouse, head to www.rebelonmain.com/episode6. Carolyn Dupont, Mississippi Praying: Southern White Evangelicals and the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1975 Production team Writer and Host: David R. Swartz Original Music, Sound Design, and Mixing: Barry Blair Story Editor: Stephen Smith Artistic Design: Josh Smith and Lisa Weaver Swartz Next episode: In Episode 7—Change Is Gonna Come—find out what happens after a final push to remove Jessamine County’s Confederate statue.

Archaeologist Stephen McBride wants to emancipate Jessamine from the Lost Cause. He zeroes in on Camp Nelson, which has nearly disappeared from the county’s memory. Farmers have leveled the earthworks, and developers are eyeing the site. Camp Nelson’s significance has also been buried by racial hostility. Many in the local Black community have been driven off by lynchings, KKK rallies, and backlash to the civil rights movement. As construction workers begin to widen a state highway that cuts through the site, Jessamine’s best emancipationist memory is under threat of being permanently erased. But this disastrous development becomes the site’s salvation. The state historical commission steps in and gives McBride a year to recover what he can before the bulldozers return. To nearly everyone’s delight, the archaeologist unearths a long-buried narrative that once again tells hard stories about racial violence and inspirational stories about Black freedom. Camp Nelson begins to duel with the statue over the county’s Civil War memory.  Resources For pictures of Rev. Gates and Camp Nelson, head to rebelonmain.com/episode5. George Wright, A History of Blacks In Kentucky:  In Pursuit of Equality, 1890-1980 Engage Check out our website at www.rebelonmain.com. To support future creative projects, click here: rebelonmain.com/support. Email [email protected] to let me know what you think of this episode of Rebel on Main. Please give a rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. Timestamps 00:00      As activists wait for Judge West to act on Jenna’s petition, Camp Nelson rises from the ground. 02:57      Archaeologist Stephen McBride describes his digs at Camp Nelson. 30:09      Calvonia Radford discusses the preservation of Black history. 32:51      Rev. Gates explains why he is suspicious of my interest in Black history. He tells stories of his descendants at Camp Nelson. 46:40      Judge West discusses the significance of Black history and the story of Camp Nelson becoming a national monument. 53:05      A luminaria in lament of the 1864 expulsion is the first event held at Camp Nelson National Monument. Transcript: Visit www.rebelonmain.com/episode5. Production team Writer and Host: David R. Swartz Original Music, Sound Design, and Mixing: Barry Blair Story Editor: Stephen Smith Artistic Design: Josh Smith and Lisa Weaver Swartz Next episode: In Episode 6—A Confederate from Canada—a political activist uses the Confederate statue to win the 2020 election.

Two weeks into the Black Lives Matter campaign, homeschooler Jenna Sparks gets mad. This sixteen-year-old descendant of a Confederate ancestor, whose name was Jeptha Jefferson Davis Sparks, has a Black cousin, and seeing so many people in Jessamine who fly the Confederate battle flag angers her. So does walking by the Confederate statue, located just two blocks from her house. So Jenna writes a petition to “remove and destroy” the statue. Hundreds of locals immediately sign, and her campaign makes the news. An interracial group of ministers led by Pastor Moses of First Baptist Church circulates Jenna’s petition. Then they write and submit their own to the judge. Jessamine County seems poised to reckon with its sordid record on race and Civil War memory. Timestamps 00:00      Sitting on her front porch, Jenna explains why she wants to destroy the statue. 07:58      Pastor Moses starts an interracial ministerial committee. 14:00      Pastor Max Vanderpool describes racial conditions in Jessamine County. 18:25      The ministerial committee ramps up. 30:48      A “Black Lives Matter” rally in Wilmore 38:08      Resistance emerges. 47:09      Antistatue activists resolve to continue their campaign. Transcript: Visit www.rebelonmain.com/episode4/transcript. Engage Check out our website at rebelonmain.com. To support future creative projects, contribute here: rebelonmain.com/support. Email [email protected] to let me know what you think of this episode of Rebel on Main. Please give a rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. Resources For pictures of Jenna, Pastor Moses, and the Wilmore march, head to https://www.rebelonmain.com/episode4 George Wright, A History of Blacks In Kentucky:  In Pursuit of Equality, 1890-1980 Michael Emerson and Christian Smith, Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America On the Fallen Monuments Park in Moscow, see https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fallen-monument-park. Production team Writer and Host: David R. Swartz Original Music, Sound Design, and Mixing: Barry Blair Story Editor: Stephen Smith Artistic Design: Josh Smith and Lisa Weaver Swartz Next episode: In Episode 5—Rival Monument—a very different narrative of the Civil War emerges from the ground.