One-Man Play Tells Story of Key Civil War Skirmish

On October 29, 1862, Rufus Vann and the other members of the First Kansas Colored Volunteers regiment made history at the Action of Island
Mound as the first African Americans to fight as Union soldiers during the
Civil War.

Vann, who became a corporal in the Union Army after enlisting at age 46, is the focal point of “Resurrection 150,” a short play presented at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park as part of the museum’s “The Civil War in Missouri” exhibition.

The play commemorates the 150th anniversary of a skirmish between the First Kansas regiment and Confederate troops that occurred on the Toothman Farm in western Missouri near the Kansas border. It is written by Linda Kennedy, artistic associate of The Black Rep, and directed by Elizabeth A. Pickard, the museum’s assistant director of interpretive programs.

“We asked Linda to write the play to highlight the African American experience of the Civil War in Missouri as part of our programming for the exhibit,” Pickard said.

The play illustrates the African American experience during the War Between the States through stories, poetry and songs of the Colored Regiment. During a trip to Texas, Kennedy picked up a book about colored regiments during the Civil War.

“When Elizabeth and I started talking, and I started looking up information on where the first battles were, how Missouri was involved, and more specifically, where those battles were in Missouri, Rufus Vann’s name kept popping up,” Kennedy said. “So I wanted him to embody many of those soldiers, but basically his name and his story.”

The one-person performance is told from the perspective of Vann, portrayed this Saturday by Maurice Demus, an acting intern with The Black Rep. It also shows African Americans taking an active role in the war.

”For this play in particular, it was essential to me that we portrayed African Americans fighting for their own freedom,” Pickard said. “Rufus Vann was a man who took his life in his hands to escape slavery and join the Union. His commander was defying orders to arm him because he thought it was the right thing to do.”

The play also clarifies a widely held misperception about African American soldiers in the Civil War.

“I also love that the play highlights a great moment in the state's history,” Pickard said. “Very few, if any, visitors realize that the first time African Americans fought in the front lines of a Civil War battle was right here in our own state. Most folks think that honor belongs to the 54th Massachusetts – of Glory fame – much later in the war.”

“Resurrection 150” is free and is presented at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 31, in MacDermott Grand Hall at the Missouri History Museum, Lindell at DeBaliviere, Forest Park, St. Louis.

For more information, call 314-746-4599.