Toward the end and after the conclusion of the Civil War, more than 557 Freedom Colonies were formed across Texas, with eight in the city of Brenham.
The colonies were formed by formerly enslaved citizens, often with the assistance of the Federal Government’s Freedmen’s Bureau--formally known as The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, established by Congress in March 1865 as a branch of the United States Army.
It was to be a temporary agency formed to provide relief to thousands of refugees, Black and White, who had been left homeless by the Civil War
The Camptown Freedom Colony in Brenham, Texas no longer exists but the Camptown Cemetery survives as a palpable reminder of a time when newly freed slaves had to learn to fend for themselves in the segregated South.
Initiatives to unearth the story of the people who inhabited Camptown Freedom Colony and were buried in the cemetery are being conducted by numerous organizations, including the Texas 1O Historical Explorers; the Brenham Heritage Museum; The Texas Freedom Colonies Project; the National Park Service, and the Texas Historical Commission.
Join correspondent Tom Wilmer at the Camptown Cemetery for a visit with Jennifer Eckermann, Director of Tourism and Marketing for the City of Brenham, Texas to discover the rest of the story.
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