Hagerstown Monument To Honor Black Civil War Vets
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- The city of Hagerstown says it will erect a monument to black Civil War veterans 90 years after white veterans of the war were similarly honored.
Hagerstown-Washington County Visitors Bureau President Tom Riford said Thursday that the monument is long overdue.
He says it will be dedicated in September at Rose Hill Cemetery.
The granite obelisk will honor members of a local, African-American chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic. The GAR was a national organization for Union veterans of the Civil War.
Riford says a monument to a local post for white veterans was placed in the cemetery in the 1920s. But he says there was no monument dedicated to the black veterans.
Riford says organizers are seeking donations for the project.
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