GKCBHSG Meeting: “The Salus Populi Project: Bringing Missouri United States Colored Troop Records Home”

The Greater Kansas City Black History Study Group will host its annual membership recruitment meeting and program at the Black Archives of Mid-America. Remembering Veterans Day celebrated on Monday, November 11, 2024, our November meeting will allow us to learn about The Salus Populi Project founded to bring attention to the experiences of African American veterans of the Union Army. “The project is actively locating, digitizing, and creating a publicly accessible repository for the pension files of Missouri USCT servicemen in the seven counties known as Missouri’s “Little Dixie”: Boone, Calloway, Chariton, Clay, Lafayette, Howard, and Saline. By making these records accessible, the aim is to study how servicemen and their families remained vigilant in their fight for equality during the Civil War, Reconstruction, and beyond.”

Our guest speaker, Ms. Michelle Cook, is an educator and historian. Cook is the Research Director for the Slavery, Memory, and Justice Project, and possesses extensive experience in and knowledge of best practices in archival research, with a particular emphasis on the history of African Americans in Missouri. Please join us as we learn how to use these records to explore the lived experiences of these soldiers and their families from enslavement to post-war occupations and challenges.