Exploring the Promise of Freedom - Stones River National Battlefield - Murfreesboro, TN
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 35° 52.563 W 086° 25.834
16S E 551402 N 3970350
On a side path, off the main road, where the farms use to be.
Waymark Code: WMPJ18
Location: Tennessee, United States
Date Posted: 09/05/2015
Views: 4
County of marker: Rutherford County
Location of marker: Park Rd. & Path, Stones River National Battlefield, Murfreesboro
Marker erected by: National Park Service
Marker text"
Exploring the Promise of Freedom
After the Civil War, four million formerly enslaved people took charge of their own lives. They began to exercise their rights and start their own communities. They built homes, schools, churches. and businesses. For the first time, black men and women could own property.
Here, the community of Cemetery took shape. Soldiers from the 111th US Colored Infantry who had built Stones River National Cemetery bought land. They started their new lives near the place where they worked.
By 1880, most of Cemetery's residents were African Americans. Half of its farmers were black males. Despite the hostility of withe neighbors and the creation of the national battlefield, Cemetery, endured for over 60 years.