DOCUMENTARY EXPLORES 'FORGOTTEN SOLDIERS'

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. -- Black Civil War soldiers buried in unmarked graves near Murphysboro had been forgotten, even by their descendants.

"I didn't know anything about it," said Earlene Sanders, a 75-year-old descendant of these Civil War veterans. "I knew the names, but not that they'd fought in the Civil War."

Sanders was one of several local residents interviewed on camera for a documentary that will, it is hoped, eventually be aired on WSIU-TV. Murphysboro middle school students wielded the cameras and sound equipment for the documentary, as part of a special summer project funded in part with state grants.

Their teachers and editors were documentary filmmakers David and Rebecca Floeter.

The documentary was an extension of a booklet produced by middle school teacher Mike Jones and his sixth-grade class.

Called "Forgotten Soldiers: Murphysboro's African-American Civil War Veterans," the booklet explores the history of the 24 charter members of a black Civil War veterans group based in Murphysboro. Many came from the same county in Tennessee. Four brothers, with the last name of Bostick, established a community of ex-slaves after the war, 5.5 miles south of Murphysboro.

Exploring lost history

Only two black Civil War veterans had gravestones in Bostick Cemetery. The rest of the veterans were buried in unmarked graves in cemeteries around Murphysboro and Grand Tower.

The information gathered by Jones' students in 1993 and 1994 allowed them to arrange for grave markers to be provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs.

This summer's documentary explores the lost history of these black veterans. The students even took a long road trip to the county in Tennessee where so many members of the Bostick Settlement originated.

Sanders came along for the ride.

"At first, I was just doing it to help the kids," Sanders said. "But I wanted to see where my people came from. It was a strange feeling. I had mixed emotions, because I knew they'd been slaves there."

Some of her ancestors had stayed in Tennessee. She visited a few of their graves and talked to a 91-year-old relative there.

"To lose your roots is more than sad. It's the saddest thing," she said. "We never knew black history when we were growing up. And the older people wouldn't talk about anything in front of us kids."

Over the years, Jones has sparked students' interest in history by leading archaeological digs at the John A. Logan Museum grounds.

Studying the black Civil War veterans has helped focus that interest into a more personal approach to history.

The filmmakers had hoped to hear stories passed down, through the generations, of the black Civil War veterans' exploits in combat, but none survived.

"One of the students commented that we began asking our questions 25 years too late," Jones said sadly. "And she was right."