Question-and-answer session for First Kansas Colored Infantry Volunteer Regiment

Fort Gibson Historic Site is calling for interested parties to join its inaugural First Kansas Colored Infantry Volunteer Regiment living history group. Fort Gibson and Honey Springs Battlefield have partnered to develop a regiment to help conduct programming depicting the All-Black Civil War regiment that was instrumental in helping the US Army defeat Confederate forces in Indian Territory, most notably in the Battle of Honey Springs.

The First Kansas Colored Infantry was made up of free Black and formerly enslaved people. Free Black and formerly enslaved women were employed by the army as nurses and laundresses to support the First Kansas. There is enough funding to supply seven men and four women with equipment and clothing. Fort Gibson and Honey Springs staff will regularly provide training and support for this volunteer group.

There will be a question-and-answer event on Saturday, June 17, and Saturday, July 22, from 1:30–3 p.m. at the Fort Gibson Historic Site Visitor Center located at 907 N. Garrison Ave. in Fort Gibson. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and sign up for the program at that time. Volunteers who are eligible will be fitted for uniforms and will work with staff to determine the first training date, which will likely be in August 2023. The first program is tentatively scheduled for November 2023.

This group will conduct educational programming an average of four to five times a year, which can include demonstrations at the November Honey Springs event, garrison weekends at Fort Gibson Historic Site, the April 2024 commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Fort Gibson Historic Site, and the November 2024 commemoration of the Freedmen Commission.

If you or anyone you know is interested in joining this group, make plans to attend one of the Q&A events or send an email to fortgibson@history.ok.gov.