Rare African-American

photographic exhibit
coming to museum

TEXT BY LEIF MUNKEL

Rare pieces of Mississippi’s Civil War

history will be on display at the African-
American Military History Museum dur-
ing the month of February. A unique col-
lection of 13 seldom-seen photographs is
on loan from the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of
Art in Biloxi and features original Civil
War photography from the private collec-
tions of C.P. Kitty Weaver of
Massachusetts and Isiah Edwards of Long
Beach.
“It is an honor to have these rare photo-
graphs in our museum,” said Hattiesburg
Convention Commission Executive
Director Rick Taylor. “Most
Mississippians have never seen these pho-
tos or know the stories associated with
them.”
“The Native Guard: A Photographic
History of Ship Island’s African American
Regiment,” tells the history of the 2nd
Regiment of the Louisiana Native Guards
serving on Ship Island in the Mississippi
Sound during the Civil War. The
Louisiana Native Guard began as a
Confederate regiment of free black men,
but when New Orleans fell to Union
troops the regiment disbanded. In need of
reinforcements, the Union Army called for
all black Confederate soldiers to join. In
September of 1862, the 1st Regiment of the
Louisiana Native Guard was formed.
The photographs come from the per-
sonal diary of Col. Nathan W. Daniels, the
leader of the 2nd Regiment. Daniels
fought for African-American rights after
the war until his death in 1867. The photo-
graphs provide a rare look at the African
American regiment through the eyes of a
white officer. Each photograph is accom-
panied by Colonel Daniels’ captions and
descriptions along with the date.
The exhibit will be open to the public,
free of charge, during normal museum
hours. For more information about the
exhibit, call (601) 450-1942 or visit
www.HattiesburgUso.com.

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