ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 13, 1996 TAG: 9609130142
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
After being ignored by history for 130 years, thousands of black soldiers who fought in the Civil War got their due Thursday when the site for a national monument to their efforts was officially dedicated.
Some 185,000 blacks fought in the nation's bloodiest war, alongside and often taking the place of their white captains. But when the war ended, they were largely forgotten, and they were intentionally left out of a 1865 victory parade.
``The story of the 185,000 soldiers is being told. That's the most important thing,'' said Richard Burbridge, 61, of New York City. His great-grandfather, Sgt. Maj. Thomas Burbridge, fought with the 114th Regiment of Lexington, Ky.
``I'm sure he'd be very proud'' of the memorial, Burbridge said of his great-grandfather.
Burbridge and about 500 other people attended the ceremony in Washington's historically black Shaw neighborhood, where the African American Civil War Memorial will be built. The neighborhood is named for abolitionist Robert Shaw, who led one of the first black Civil War regiments, the Massachusetts 54th.
District Mayor Marion Barry said Shaw was the perfect place for the monument: ``This monument is in the right place. It shouldn't be downtown on the Mall. It shouldn't be somewhere else in Washington. It should be right here in the heart of this community.''
Jacqueline Still Burton, whose five distant cousins fought with Philadelphia's 24th Regiment, said she was happy her relatives ``are finally being recognized.''
``It's a dream come true for our family,'' Burton, 65, said.
The memorial is expected to be completed in about a year. It will be a semicircular, 3-foot-high curved stone wall holding stainless steel plaques with the names of the black Union soldiers and the 7,000 white officers who led them. A statue of four black soldiers will face the wall of names.
The ceremony Thursday capped a week of events honoring the ``United States Colored Troops,'' as the fighters were called. Earlier in the week, re-enactment groups from around the country staged a long-overdue victory parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery.
``This monument will recognize a unique part of American history that has been overlooked,'' said retired Gen. Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The monument ``reminds us that a particular group of Americans, African Americans, were willing to serve their country even though their country was not willing to serve them,'' Powell said.
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