(birds chirping) (gentle music) - [Narrator] On the southeast side of Indianapolis is a little neighborhood called Norwood, a small, unassuming community that sits at the heart of America's newest national holiday.

In January of 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

While it famously freed the slaves within Union territory, it also cleared the way for the formation of Indiana's own 28th Regiment U.S.

Colored Troops.

Black men from all over Indiana made their way to Indianapolis and prepared for battle.

- The Colored Troops were stationed in Fountain Square in the 1860s and there are about four or 5,000 soldiers there on Hosbrook Street.

Fountain Square became kind of this central rallying point for the Colored Troops of the Midwest, because the Big Four railroad crosses in Fountain Square.

It specifically crosses in Norwood and so, the Big Four railroads, the North, South, East, West lines, that makes us the crossroads of America.

So, bustling all the time, a lot of movement.

- [Narrator] The 28th shipped out in 1863 to bolster the defenses around Washington D.C.

While in Virginia, they fought in some of the most important battles of the Civil War.

- They're there for the siege on Washington.

This is like the last year of the Civil War.

They're sent down to Petersburg, Virginia.

They're there for the Battle of Crater, and then, they're sent out to Richmond, Virginia and they're there for the Battle of Appomattox, which is where General Lee surrenders the Civil War.

Even if that was just the story, it would be pretty phenomenal.

- [Narrator] Because the 28th regiment was among the most highly decorated, hundreds of soldiers were joined by other USCT troops to form the 25th Army Corps.

Their next mission, to deal the final blow against slavery in the United States.

- They were sent out to Galveston, Texas, where they landed on June 19th, 1865, and liberated the slaves there, a federal holiday that we now call Juneteenth.

(inspiring music) This is something that's firmly embedded in the history of Indianapolis.

- [Narrator] When Major General Gordon Granger marched the U.S.

Colored Troops into Galveston, Texas, he was flanked by both the 25th Army Corps and thousands of troops from Indiana's 28th Regiment itself.

- How amazing for us to be able to say that Juneteenth happened because of us.

That's not something we would normally give the state of Indiana, you know?

(gentle music) - [Narrator] In January of 1866, the 25th Army Corps and 28th Regiment were officially discharged and the soldiers at last returned home.

Many chose to remain on Indianapolis' south side, starting families and building homes that their descendants still live in to this day.

- We've identified six neighborhoods that were established by the Colored Troops during the reconstruction period, that 10 years after the Civil War.

They're all in kind of varying states.

I would say that Norwood and its partner community Barrington are probably the most intact of these communities.

- [Narrator] Indiana Humanities Wilma Gibbs Moore Fellowship is helping to fund historian Kaila Austin's work to recover the histories of the 28th Regiment.

- We started the Wilma Gibbs Moore Fellowship in 2020.

We really believe that humanities have the power to bring people together, to open up minds, and to help foster understanding and as we deal with some of the issues around race in our country, we thought what better way to use the humanities.

- The archive that we're building as part of the Wilma Gibbs Moore fellowship to give these people faces and names for the first time and I think it'll help to really personalize history in a way that we don't get a lot of the time.

Our goal right now is to work with these families, to record these stories that have never really been talked about in Indiana history before.

(gentle music continues) - She's telling a compelling story about these descendants of the United States Colored Troops that live in the southeast part of Indianapolis that are still living there in the same neighborhood that they've lived for 150 plus years.

It's a vital and still vibrant story that's connected to the past.

- Who knows how long the collections process will take, but it'll be a beautiful thing either way.

(gentle music continues) - [Narrator] For more stories, visit wfyi.org/acrossindiana and to discover more Black history, please visit tubmandouglassfilms.org.