Members of the Berlin Equity Action Team, are lobbying to have several former Black residents who fought and died in the Civil War, posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Part of the effort includes a short documentary commemorating the veterans' participation in the war and a custom action figure.
Berlin Police Department Chief Matt McNally said the veterans’ service and sacrifice should be celebrated.
“These soldiers from Berlin fought for the Union and for freedom,” McNally said. “Their story deserves to stand proudly among the others who wore the uniform.”
The 12- inch figure represents Union soldiers, part of the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment, a Black unit led by a white colonel from Derby. It was formed after the Union Army began having trouble replacing casualties sustained in years of fighting.
Chris Barlow is the co-founder of the Berlin Equity Action Team, a private organization which promotes diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in town. The action figure, which is now housed in the Freedom Trail exhibit at the Berlin Historical Society, is more than a toy, according to Barlow.
“If kids come by, they definitely will recognize, ‘hey, that's a GI Joe,” Barlow said. “Hey, he's the Civil War guy. Hey, I didn't realize he was Black. Hey, there's history that's behind all this.’ And this is an opportunity for them to engage and learn.”
Part of that history also reflects the efforts of free Black men to enlist in the military. The Union launched a draft, which was highly unpopular, leading to draft riots. Yet free Black men in Connecticut readily volunteered. They went on to fight across the south, and were honorably discharged at the end of the Civil War.
Many veterans continued to face racism when they returned, and then-Governor William Buckingham addressed the veterans and admitted the state would not give them equal rights, but said their service would compel others to support equal treatment. It took nearly another 100 years for the Civil Rights Act to make good on those words.
Barlow and his wife, Twanette Price, co-founder of the Berlin Equity Action Team, are now raising support to have several men who fought and died in the war, the Medal of Honor. Barlow said they are currently in talks with elected officials to gain their support.
The Medal of Honor is the most prestigious award for military service in the U.S. Armed Forces. Currently, only 96 of the country’s over 3,500 Medal of Honor recipients are Black.
Just over 18% of all recipients were awarded posthumously, and the nomination process for the award that falls outside the two year time window would need the support of a current elected member of Congress.
But Price said the efforts in Berlin are worth it, especially for a town that she said, can be unwelcoming to people of color. She and her husband noted town reception to the regiment’s history has been lukewarm even as the municipal government supports their efforts.
“Hope is what keeps us going,” Price said.
