Camp Nelson, a former Union Army supply depot in Kentucky where thousands of African American soldiers enlisted and hundreds of Black women and children were violently expelled, is getting a new museum exhibit co-created with the community rather than imposed from above. This matters because most Civil War monuments in Kentucky celebrate the Confederacy, and the stories of Black refugees and soldiers at Camp Nelson have been systematically overlooked. The project confronts a fundamental question: who gets to decide how a contested history is told? By digging into neglected databases, archaeological records, and primary sources, the researchers aim to recover those erased narratives and centre the voices of people historically marginalised in interpretations of the site. If successful, the project will directly shape the National Park Service’s ongoing rehabilitation of the Camp Nelson Museum and its digital content, making the site’s stories accessible to both physical and virtual visitors. More broadly, it could serve as a model for inclusive, community-engaged heritage practice across the NPS and other organisations, influencing how public history institutions handle difficult commemorative legacies and ensuring that future exhibits reflect a wider range of lived experiences.
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"Histories of Hope?" is a 26-month project (July 2025-September 2027) that brings together researchers from the University of St Andrews alongside public historians and heritage staff at the Camp Nelson National Monument, a major site of African American Civil War history in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Our aim is to co-develop an innovative, community-engaged museum exhibit that will inspire visitors to think critically and creatively about processes of commemoration and better understand Camp Nelson’s role in contemporary and historical Black freedom struggles. Originally established as a supply depot for the Union Army, Camp Nelson became the country's third largest recruitment centre for African American troops (USCT). It also became a critical destination for refugees as hundreds of Black women and children travelled to the site in pursuit of their freedom but were violently cast out. Designated a National Monument in 2018 and managed by the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), the former encampment is now a place of commemorative activity, interpretation, and education. It is a non-traditional monument to freedom, contrasting starkly with the Confederate monuments erected during Reconstruction and beyond in Kentucky, which currently dominate debates surrounding commemoration, racism, and the Civil War. Against this backdrop, this project chooses to emphasize collaboration and co-creation while confronting the challenges of who should tell Camp Nelson’s story and define its modern-day legacy. Using traditionally overlooked databases, primary and secondary resources, and archaeological research, our goals are to uncover previously untold stories of Camp Nelson and seek creative and effective ways to share them with the broadest possible audience. Through community engagement efforts, we aim to center the voices of those who have been historically marginalised in interpretations and establish Camp Nelson as a model for inclusive and equitable design. The project will have a direct influence on the current rehabilitation of the Camp Nelson Museum and advance the mission of Commemorative Cultures, a digital humanities project led by Treen at St Andrews that seeks to map and interpret Civil War monuments from around the world. The NPS are working on the redevelopment of on-site exhibits and the creation of digital content to make the stories and relevance of Camp Nelson more accessible to physical and virtual visitors to the park. This project will provide the research for this work as well as creating significant professional opportunities for early career researchers and a convenor in project management, museum studies and the public humanities. Working in conjunction with Camp Nelson staff and NPS contractors, the project will lead a comprehensive re-evaluation of the site's commemorative and interpretative legacy, ensuring the integration of previously neglected perspectives. This will significantly contribute to the academic discourse surrounding Civil War heritage, commemoration, and curatorial best practice. Further, by enhancing the museum’s interpretive strategies, the project will establish Camp Nelson as a critical case study for inclusive engagement with the potential to inform heritage policy and curatorial practices within the NPS and other heritage organizations more widely, thus addressing the need for more inclusive and representative narratives in public history.
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