FREE events and activities will include:
  • Cincinnati Pops Concert
  • Civil War era experiences and actors
  • Information and activity booths from Cincinnati Parks, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Civil War Museum, the National Park Service (Taft House), Cincinnati Civil War Roundtable, Hamilton Civil War Roundtable, Camp Nelson Museum, OhioCivilWar.com, the 5th Independent Battery of Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, and the U.S. 5th Regiment Colored Troop (also known as 127th OVI). 
  • Discounted admission to the Freedom Center will be only $5 on Sunday, September 9 from 11 am-5pm. ($7 off regular adult admission) The Freedom Center will also have Black Brigade artifacts on display, including the Black Brigade flag from the Ohio Historical Society and the sword that the Black Brigade presented to Colonel William Dickson. There will also be videos, panel displays that tell Black Brigade members’ individual stories and more.
Guests are encouraged to bring blankets, lawn chairs and picnic items if desired. Visitors can also purchase food from outdoor concessions that will be set up adjacent to the Schmidlapp Event Lawn.
The Cincinnati Pops concert is made possible by a generous gift from the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trusts, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee.  The entire event is free and open to the public.
The Story of the Black Brigade
Prior to the construction of the Black Brigade Monument, the story of over 700 African-American men who volunteered to build fortifications to defend Cincinnati from a Confederate attack during the Civil War in September, 1862. was little known. The city’s black men were denied the opportunity to enlist as soldiers, but they were abducted from their homes and forced into labor. This led to protests of the inhumane treatment of the men and an outcry by local media. The protests led to an intervention by Union officers, who freed the men from the forced labor and returned them to their homes. The men were then invited to volunteer their services and become a part of the team of 7,000 Cincinnatians who constructed the fortifications that ultimately protected Cincinnati from a Confederate attack. The Black Brigade monument pays tribute to this very significant moment in Cincinnati's—and the nation’s—social history. 
The monument’s creation was sponsored by the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. / U.S. Bank Foundation, the City of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Park Board, the Cincinnati Parks Foundation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
For more information, please contact Joyce Kamen at 513.543.8109; or Manda Hurdelbrink at 513.324.8610