In the birthplace of the KKK, she spent $82,000 to erect statue of Black Civil War soldier

The city of Pulaski has long been known as the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan, but visitors heading into town will now see a life-sized, bronze monument honoring a very different history.

Ahead of the Juneteenth holiday, city leaders on Saturday unveiled “Resurrection of Valor,” a statue memorializing thousands of the region’s United States Colored Troops who fought for the U.S. Army in the Civil War.

For the small town of about 8,000 near the Alabama border, the monument marks a milestone as Pulaski works to change its image and remember its forgotten Black history.

Speaking to a crowd of more than a hundred at the unveiling, vice mayor Ricky Keith, a local pastor, said he hopes to send a message to Tennessee and the rest of the world.

Pulaski is moving forward.

“I want every outsider to come here and see what our community really is,” Keith said. “Don’t take Google’s word for it anymore.

"We’ve had a dark history, but the sun shines today.”

The piece, sculpted by local artist Pamela Keller, is cast in bronze and stands 6 feet 2. It depicts a Black soldier leaning against his rifle as he speaks to a young Black child.

It’s the first of several planned monuments that will honor local Black educators, doctors, and other leaders in a grassy park at the base of Fort Hill — known as Cave Spring Heritage Plaza.

The project was more than two years in the making for longtime resident Vivian Sims.

Sims, an educator for 47 years who served as Pulaski’s first Black elementary school principal, was the visionary behind the statue. She even paid the $82,000 cost out of her own pocket.

She said she wanted to display art that sent a message of hope and inspiration to younger generations.

“If you go your whole life and the only ancestors you know about are slaves, that doesn't give you any motivation to be somebody and to do something,” Sims, 94, told the crowd. “But if you find out your ancestor was a brave warrior who fought in the war so we can be free? Amen.”

Vivian Sims: A local visionary

Born and raised in New York City, Sims moved to the South in 1950 and served as the first Black art teacher in Nashville City Schools.

Sims later moved to Pulaski, having no idea that it was the birthplace of the KKK. Yet she said she found it to be a wonderful place to live.

Sims was in her 80s when she discovered the U.S. Colored Troops.

She had been looking to have her 1835 antebellum home listed on a historic registry. During this process, she spotted a group of Black men at an event, dressed as Union soldiers.

“I didn’t know what they were and then I learned they fought for the Union and I was floored,” she said. “I had no idea. It just wasn't something that we ever learned or talked about.

"For Black people, talking about slavery is taboo.”

She now wants everyone to learn and talk about the troops' contribution to history.

Building up history next to dark memories

The U.S. Army in 1863 and 1864 organized the 110th & 111th Regiments of the U.S. Colored Troops in Giles County with estimated 2,400 soldiers, most of whom had escaped slavery.

Most of them lived in Giles County, but some were from northern Alabama and Mississippi.

One of their most critical tasks was to protect the Nashville-Decatur Railroad and the Columbia Turnpike (now known as Highway 31). Many were stationed at Fort Lily on the north side of Pulaski.

The units helped to defend Pulaski against Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederate forces. Some soldiers later served at the Battle of Nashville. When the war ended in 1865, veterans settled in the town and became prominent community members, church leaders, and educators.

At the same time, a group of former Confederate Army soldiers in town founded a secret society that was later known as the first chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.

While Pulaski acknowledges this dark part of its past, the town, unlike other cities that have removed monuments in recent years, has been reluctant to take down some of its Confederate memorabilia in favor of adding more inclusive pieces to “build” on its history.

In 2021, residents formed the Community Advisory Council on Inclusive Recognition & Acknowledgement as part of the town's “Build Up” initiative to highlight the U.S. Colored Troops and others who deserve to be recognized.

In a town where about 67% of residents are white and 21% are Black, the work has been a healing process for many, said Kelly Hamlin, a historian who serves on the committee.

“We’re focusing on the gaps in the narratives in Pulaski’s history,” she said. “There are so many stories to tell.”

For its next project, Hamlin said the committee is planning a memorial to honor Matt Gardner, who after being enslaved became a prominent minister, educator, and philanthropist in nearby Elkton.

The group would also love to have a piece honoring Sims as a pioneering educator.

“But she’s not letting us right now,” Hamlin said, adding a chuckle.

As for Sims, who turns 95 in September, she’s busy working on the next project as part of her legacy.

“I still have a lot to do,” she said.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: City of Pulaski unveils US Colored Troops monument for Juneteenth