Rio Grande Valley teachers learned about the legacy of Black U.S. soldiers that served in the area during the Civil War as part of a UTRGV project.

The Friday lecture was part of the Rio Grande Valley Civil War Trail Project.

The curriculum focuses on Valley history during the Civil War, and teachers learned about the Black soldiers deployed to the area after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

“Their contribution is very important because not only did they achieve their freedom by mustering into the U.S. colored troops, but then they were tasked with the very difficult and heavy task to protect the border after the Civil War was over and to rebuild the border,” UTRGV lecturer Roseann Bacha Garza said.

The troops were deployed to the border in 1864 and stationed here through the end of the war.