Southern Illinois News

State Rep. Paul Jacobs (R-Pomona) recently attended an historic reenactment at Mound City National Cemetery praising the individuals involved in the event. 

"Great day for an historical history lesson presented by the Mound City Preservation Committee with Grand Chain’s Marlene Rivero portraying Ann Bradford Stokes, an African American nurse on board the USS Hospital Ship the Red Rover," the legislator said on Facebook. "You may recognize a few other folks out and about! Thanks to Becky Mueller for the finger food with mini chocolate cupcakes."

Jacobs also gave special thanks to Rivero for her living history of nurse Stokes, an event attended by more than 60 people on Saturday, April 23. For those who missed the historic reenactment, Jacobs used Facebook to highlight other ways of supporting local history.

"If you get a chance go to the Mound City National Preservation Commission’s headquarters at 315 S. Fourth St. in Mound City. They are turning the headquarters into a museum. Donations always accepted!" he said. 

The Mound City National Cemetery Preservation Commission is a nonprofit incorporated in1994. The organization encourages individuals to get involved in creating a plan to restore and maintain the structures on the Mound City National Cemetery and to help them expand the land for the veterans who will come in the future.

The April 23 reenactment was presented by the Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Bureau and focused on Ann Bradford Stokes, a former slave and Civil War nurse.  

"Ann treated soldiers and sailors in the western theatre during the Civil War, serving alongside the Sisters of the Holy Cross aboard the hospital ship Red Rover, which traveled the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, retrieving the sick and wounded and delivering them to hospitals in Cairo and Mound City, Illinois," the cemetery said on its website. "Ann Stokes is believed to be the first female to receive a pension for her services as a nurse."