On the Lowndes County Courthouse lawn in October, Dylan Wiley portrayed a man named Charles Williams for the second time. It was part of a “Community Read” partnership between Columbus and Mississippi University for Women meant to highlight local Black history.
The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science senior, and Raymond native, donned the uniform of a U.S. colored soldier in the Civil War to passionately, convincingly deliver Williams’ story.
A Lowndes County native and son of a free man of color who owned The Haven on Second Avenue North, Williams served in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, a colored unit made famous by the 1989 film, “Glory.” Wiley spoke about how WIlliams was wounded in combat and lived the rest of his life disabled in Ohio.
He read 21 other names of Black soldiers who fought in the Civil War. Then, as Wiley puts it, he “pivoted,” pointing out the World War I memorial monument on the courthouse lawn and reading 12 more names, all of Black soldiers, that don’t appear on its edifice.
“Mississippi has a history of hiding some of the better parts of our (history), including those great men,” Wiley told The Dispatch on Friday. “… I wanted to tell the whole story.”
Columbus Mayor Keith Gaskin, in the audience that day, was “blown away.”
“My mouth was on the floor,” he said of Wiley’s inspiring performance “… It’s powerful.”
But learning about those names left off the monument also stirred Gaskin.
“It’s an injustice that needs to be corrected as soon as possible,” he said.
Since October, Gaskin has met with MSMS history teacher Chuck Yarborough and District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith to “start the conversation” for righting the wrong.
The men have invited Wiley to reprise his performance on the courthouse lawn at 10 a.m. Feb. 24, partly as a Black History Month celebration and partly to raise awareness for the need to recognize those soldiers.
“I think it’s an opportunity for our community to reach back in time and correct the error that is obvious — it’s on the landscape in front of the courthouse — and begin to move in a new direction,” Yarborough said during an appearance Thursday at a city council work session where he announced the event.
An ‘unsurprising’ injustice
Yarborough’s students each year participate in a program for the Eighth of May, commemorating the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived to emancipate slaves in Columbus. Students research Lowndes County’s Black citizens of the past and each chooses one to portray during public performances at Sandfield Cemetery.
About five years ago, during Eighth of May research, Yarborough and his students discovered a Daughters of the American Revolution scrapbook from 1921 that listed nine Black soldiers from Lowndes County who lost their lives in World War I. Their names, however, were omitted from a DAR-dedicated monument first placed at the Magnolia Bowl in 1933 and in 2015 to the courthouse lawn.
Yarborough said he has since discovered evidence of three other Black soldiers who died in the war and weren’t even in the DAR scrapbook.
“It’s not surprising that the Black soldiers were not on those original plaques from the 1930s,” Yarborough said. “But of course we’re in 2024, and it’s time to figure out a way to recognize local African American men who died in service to the nation.”
Enter Wiley, son of a Vietnam veteran, who was researching the 22 local Black Civil War soldiers for Eighth of May last year and decided to portray Williams. During that process, Yarborough told him about the World War I monument. Wiley, too, was unsurprised, but he wanted to be part of the solution.
The Community Read in the fall provided the perfect opportunity, and for Wiley, it was a chance to represent something greater than himself.
“African American history is a crucial and vital part of American history,” Wiley said. “It’s a story of resilience.”
Smith, one of two African Americans on the board of supervisors, said he was surprised two weeks ago when he first learned of the omission — something he called a “misguided mistake.”
“I don’t know why this wasn’t corrected years ago,” Smith told The Dispatch.
What to build and how to pay for it
Both Gaskin and Smith said there is wide support among city and county officials that something should be done.
What, exactly, remains an issue.
There seems to be little room to add 12 names to the existing monument, meaning an additional monument for the omitted soldiers is the most likely solution.
“It’s going to take some design to get it right,” Gaskin said. “… We’ve even talked about an additional monument that faces (the original) so people can walk between them.”
Gaskin said the next step is reaching out to professionals for price estimates, then determining if the city and county can partner to pay for the monument. Both he and Smith said they could also seek private donations.
However it’s done, Smith and Gaskin believe it’s overdue.
“In the environment we live in today, unfortunately there is still racial division in our country,” Gaskin said. “In many cases, it’s because a lot of people don’t have a true understanding of the real history. I think these are good moments to bring people together to learn that true history … and not create the same mistakes in the future.”
What’s next for Wiley?
Next Saturday will mark Wiley’s fourth time portraying Williams.
Besides the Eighth of May and Community Read, he took the show to the Hattiesburg Arts Festival earlier this month.
But Wiley’s future, nor his time as a soldier, isn’t confined to acting. He’s been accepted to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where he plans to major in engineering.
For that, he thanks his father’s example.
“I grew up admiring him so much, and I wanted to devote my life to service,” Wiley said.
Names of Black soldiers from Lowndes County who died in World War I
■ Jim Crim
■ Edgar Harris
■ Otis James
■ Steve Jamison
■ Elisha Jones
■ Mac Jones
■ Will Matthews
■ Alex Miller
■ Walter Nickels
■ Will Perkins
■ T. Quin
■ Saunders Richardson
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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