A long-awaited Civil War monument will be unveiled in downtown Franklin this weekend.
The statue to honor the U.S. Colored Troops who fought in the Civil War will be the first of its kind in the city. The memorial was years in the making through the Fuller Story Initiative, which aims to tell the whole history of the Black experience in the area.
“Brave Black men, upwards of 200,000, joined the army in order to fight to keep the country together as well as to secure their freedom,” Pastor Chris Williamson, a founding member of the Fuller story says. “It’s time for that story to be told.”
The monument will be erected in the Public Square, across from the city’s statue of a Confederate soldier. Williamson says Fuller Story wanted to direct its efforts not toward “taking down a statue, but focusing on what we need to put up.”
It wasn’t just the monument’s location that was intentional, but also its height.
“We want people to touch this statue, look into the eyes of this statue, see the dignity, see the personhood of this soldier,” Williamson says. “So, we wanted him on ground level.”
Fuller Story is hosting two events leading up to the unveiling for people to celebrate and learn more about the installation. The official reveal will take place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday on the Franklin Square.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM