On the day of the attempted assignation of Donald Trump, Coleman Concierge was on assignment in the heart of the South to learn more about how a small town in Tennessee is healing from its racist past.
Say what you want about the former President, but violence against political candidates sounds like a KKK plan from Mississippi Burning. CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf writes, “The incident comes at a time of political anger and anxiety in a country split down the middle and bursting at the seams. Violence has targeted Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, and liberals, and seems to be happening with agonizing frequency.”
During these most challenging times, it becomes paramount to travel and learn more about other people and places instead of jumping to conclusions.
It’s imperative to get off the beaten path to hear the whispers of history. Before Interstate 65 connected the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, there was US-31. Before that, the Tennessee and Alabama Railroad Company tracks connected Nashville to Decatur, Alabama. These tracks were one of the most heavily contested supply routes of the Civil War.
A Highway 1 road trip along the Big Sur Coast on Highway 1 is straightforward. The dramatic scenery along a narrow road between the mountains and the sea blasts your senses like the horn of a diesel engine. Driving the backroads through old Southern whistlestop towns is more subtle, like the clickety-clack of a sleeper car traveling through the night.
During the age of rail travel, Pulaski, Tennessee, was a crucial overnight stop between Nashville and Decatur. After the completion of I-65, it seemed destined to be remembered as the execution site of Confederate hero Sam Davis and the birthplace of the Klu Klux Klan. However, thanks to the foresight of local leaders and the boldness of a lifelong educator, a new chapter has been written about the regiments of United States Colored Troops (USCT) from the region who served with honor and valor during the Civil War.
The “Build Up” Initiative
The summer of 2020 challenged America. As the world fought a pandemic, communities across the country debated removing Confederate statues, starting with the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue in Memphis, Tennessee. Tensions rose to a boil in Pulaski, Tennessee, over a statue of Sam Davis centered in the town square.
Pulaski Mayor Pat Ford invited the community to unite and discuss ideas during a city council meeting. Following four hours of community conversation and collaboration, the “Build Up” initiative began. Ford said, “In a time in our world where even the discussions could have been divisive, crippling community cohesiveness and growth, leaving feelings of hatred, this is not what happened; instead, our community chose to make this an opportunity to tell untold stories.”
The Forgotten USCT of Giles County
During the city council meeting, then-Mayor Ford asked to hear stories untold. 96-year-old Vivian Sims stood up and said, “You need to honor the United States Colored Troops.”
Sims is a lifelong educator who has shattered racial and gender barriers. During her career, she taught art to every elementary student in Giles County. Sims was the first black female assistant principal of Pulaski Elementary School and later became the first black principal of Southside Elementary School. During her 46-year tenure, she noticed children — particularly young black boys — needed positive role models.
Though Sims was a Giles County resident for more than 60 years, she didn’t learn about the USCT until she was in her 80s. During the Civil War, more than 200,000 Black men courageously served in the Union Army, advancing the cause of freedom for more than 4 million enslaved people.
Their contribution was so significant that Abraham Lincoln declared, “Without the military help of the black freedmen, the war against the South could not have been won.” As a result, they endured racially motivated abuse in Mobile’s POW camps and the Battle of Fort Pillow.
Ultimately, Rampant Klan threats and violence stifled what should have been a hero’s welcome for more than 2,200 USCT soldiers from Giles County.
Resurrection of Valor
Ford enthusiastically supported Sims’ desire to honor and remember the USCT. Sims applied her art background, planning a statue to commemorate USCT soldiers. Tennessee’s other USCT statue — 60 miles away in Franklin — shows a Black soldier brandishing his weapon.
Sims wanted her work to focus on words, not weapons; the soldier’s rifle rests on the ground as he outstretches a hand to a young child. The monument reads:
“You are the descendant of brave warriors who fought and died for your freedom. God created you free and equal to all Americans. Take pride in yourself and your heritage. Always do your best, work hard to succeed, and make this world a better place to live and love one another.”
After planning, they decided to place the statue at a Cave Springs Park. All that was left was securing funding. The project was $82,000 short, but Sims persevered. She liquidated savings from real estate investments, funding the difference. On July 17, 2023, just two days before Juneteenth, Ford and Sims unveiled the Resurrection of Valor statue in Cave Springs Park.
Marks on History
In Nashville, a historical marker at Fiberglass Road and Polk Avenue tells of the 1st and 2nd Colored Brigades’ critical role in the Battle of Nashville: assaulting the Confederate right flank on the morning of December 15, 1664.
The Union victory in Nashville was one of the war’s most decisive battles. By Christmas Eve, the Union army recaptured Pulaski, using the Wilkinson-Martin-Sims House as the USCT’s regimental headquarters. Today, Vivian Sims maintains the Sims House, contributing to its position in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865, and Pulaski USCT and Confederate soldiers returned home. Tempers flared during the Reconstruction era that followed the war. Profound legal, social, and political changes followed abolition and Confederate state reintegration.
On Christmas Eve, 1865, Pulaski Confederate veterans convened, forming a society dedicated to preserving white supremacy and opposing Reconstruction: the Klu Klux Klan.
In 1867, Nathan Bedford Forrest, who led the massacre at Fort Pillow, became the first Grand Wizard of the KKK.
Historic Road Trips Through South-Central Tennessee
The USCT’s heroism and the KKK’s rise are stories that need to be told and remembered. The backward plaque at the Klan’s first meeting house is a subtle but fitting acknowledgment.
Bedford Forrest’s statue in Memphis was one of the first Confederate statues removed. The statue of the former KKK Grand Wizard sat in the U.S.’s largest Black-majority city, just 40 miles downriver from the site of the Fort Pillow Massacre.
The controversial Sam Davis statue in front of Pulaski’s City Hall followed, though a different shade of Confederate gray. Davis, a Confederate spy, was publicly executed in Pulaski, a move that would likely be viewed as a war crime today. The monument read, “Let come what must, I keep my trust,” as Davis chose death instead of betraying his comrades.
Do Unto Others
Separating the heroism of individuals from the tyranny of a state is complex and nuanced, which is why it’s so important to get out of the car on a Southern road trip. One such whistlestop is Lynnville, just 20 minutes up the road from Pulaski.
Main Street in Lynnville features Soda Pop Junction, which claims to have Tennessee’s best burger. Patrons can eat their lunch in chairs salvaged from the Sam Davis Theater with a fried pie from the Lynville Pie Company for dessert. Next door to the Lynville Pie Company is Colonel Littleton Leather Goods store, which not only features handmade full-grain leather goods but a message of tolerance and grace that has survived the test of time.
Littleton says his company has only one rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” He said that one rule was sufficient to settle all disputes that arose during nearly forty years of operation. Incorporating Bible verses into company policy hints at political leanings, but Littleton proudly states, “I can be friends with anybody, even if I don’t agree with their politics.”
Littleton’s message of tolerance, Ford’s wish to build up instead of tear down, and Sims’ desire to make this world a better place to live and love one another are just some of the poignant, educational, and fascinating storylines waiting to be uncovered on a Southern road trip. Getting off the Interstate will reward you with authentic stories told in a slow Southern style, with an overarching message of tolerance and thought diversity that’s so needed in today’s tumultuous times.
