Dr. Sean Jacobson: “Inventing the ‘Pilgrims of the South’: Historic Preservation and Cherokee Erasure at Brainerd Mission Cemetery”

Located near the historical villages of the Chickamauga Cherokees in modern-day Chattanooga, TN, Brainerd Mission was one of the largest projects of Christian evangelization and “civilization” among the Southeastern Native tribes. Several leaders of the Cherokee Nation during the Removal crisis were affiliated with Brainerd Mission throughout its existence between 1819-1838. This presentation will highlight the after-story of this witness site to the Trail of Tears: how it became forlorn and forgotten; how it was later claimed by Christian churches and the Daughters of the American Revolution; and how the grand vision to interpret the site as a living history museum was mysteriously abandoned in the mid-20th century. Although the cemetery is now a certified site along the National Historic Trail of Tears, what can we learn about the destruction of its historical setting?