Spent today sharing research about the family of #Nashville's William Edmondson with documentary film makers. He was a descendant of @FortNegley (his father died building it) and the first African-American folk art sculptor w/his own exhibition at MoMA @MuseumModernArt.
@FortNegley @MuseumModernArt With help from Krista Castillo at @FortNegley, our team collated various Union Army labor documentation & found some more of his relatives, and those of the man who raised him- Orange Edmondson, as well as some of the others who were enslaved by his enslaver.
@FortNegley @MuseumModernArt William Edmondson is a son of Edgehill, one of our oldest African American neighborhoods. The city failed to respect and retain his works of art. Now the Edmondson home site behind the Edgehill Library is working hard to make sure everyone knows his name and life's work.
(Also, I'm aware that research done by others here have found his father, Orange, alive and well after the Civil War. The Union Officers in charge of supervising the builders of Nashville's defenses have listed him as dead before April 1, 1863. They created a certificate!)
I can't wait to see if there's more evidence that can untangle this mystery.
Still untangling! Thanks to @DrEFleming7, @AuntB has joined the fray, and the documentary filmmakers are confirming with their research. Orange appears on 4 different documents under 2 enrollment numbers. If William's father *and* grandfather were named Orange, we may have bingo.
This whole thread! @AuntB has been busy!
https://twitter.com/AuntB/status/1544865819645149184?t=S2AxxBi9XVoRACCuDz0dUQ&s=19
Now this thread about a descendant whose family most likely grew up with his.
https://twitter.com/DrEFleming7/status/1545019505113432064?t=_1S0mgWaGh7bcG_E2w3fMQ&s=19
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
