The Salus Populi Pension Project, a digital humanities blueprint project, is rooted firmly in the idea that all stories, no matter how obscured, must have a place in our collective history. Understanding how people have interacted historically, and engaged in community with one another through the lens of archival documentation is a powerful wayfinding tool. The Pension Records of United States Colored Troops exist as a beautifully woven tapestry of stories. They connect past to present, highlighting the significance of human connection through myriad forms of documentation that are so often challenging to locate for those studying Black history.
The name of our project is taken from the Missouri State motto “Salus Populi suprema lex esto” or “Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law”. The records of Black Civil War veterans are taken from just seven of Missouri’s 114 counties, as they enslaved one-third of Missouri’s Black population. While historically that welfare was not extended to all of its citizens, discovering and making accessible the pension records of these marginalized Black Missouri voices from Clay, Chariton, Callaway, Boone, Howard, Lafayette and Saline counties provides an incredible opportunity to give them a well deserved place in the archival diaspora. Further, the records can be used to deepen our understanding of the complexity of Missouri’s pre and post war history.
Organized formally as a non profit in 2023, SP3 was a natural outgrowth of an early project centered on unmarked Black burials. The educators, historians, archivists and researchers behind this project understand the importance of documentation contained within pension records, but the challenges were numerous. It was a simple idea; public records should be accessible to the public, and not hidden behind prohibitive paywalls, and potentially at a location removed from other related sources. They should be discoverable within a framework designed to make sense of the documents themselves, and they should above all, highlight the contributions and connections these freedom-seekers made in service to our nation and to their communities before, during, and after the Civil War.
While our work has been in motion the last several years, the Mellon grant will make a stunning and significant impact on multiple levels. It will allow us to obtain and digitize the thousands of archival documents at a much higher rate and volume. It will provide funding for various platforms related to transcription and long term hosting of the online archive. Additionally, it will provide for a small staff to manage not only the documents and the building of a public website, but to manage the team of dedicated project volunteers .The Mellon grant also connects us to our larger community through consultation, training, and direct partnerships with those who have decades of experience in local history, preservation and digital memory.
Pension Documents Examples
Logos and document provided by the Salus Populi Pension Project