Blue & Gray Education Society
Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site Sign Project
By Robert D. Jenkins Sr. · Originally published November-December 2026 · pp. 36–37
America’s Premier Results-oriented Civil War Education Society Blue and Gray Education Society (“BGES”) is “dedicated to the objective study of the origins and impact of the American Civil War and related events.” This is our Mission Statement. We do this in a variety of ways: 1. We Provide interpretive markers and other visual assets (cannon, wagons, flags, panels) at historic sites and battlefields. 2. We Educate American history through multiple platforms, including written, visual, and social media. 3. We Provide access for in-depth studies of important American events. We interpret the places where important things happened in American history! It has been said that other organizations help to preserve and protect the “dirt” where important events occurred. BGES serves to interpret the “dirt” by sponsoring interpretive markers and other visual aids and artifacts for state and local sites throughout the Nation. We do this by supporting state and local parks, sites, and museums by meeting their needs for a given project. Whether through 1) professional (historian) interpretive support, 2) technical design and graphic support, and/or 3) financial support, BGES leads the way to meet the needs of each organization. We do this by identifying a site that is in need of interpretation or refurbishment, partnering with a local or state group tasked with the stewardship of that site, and providing support to tell their important story in America’s History.
Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site Sign Project We have partnered with Kentucky’s Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site and other friends to sponsor the replacement of 56 interpretive panels at the Perryville Battlefield site. In July, these panels were delivered to the Perryville site, and they are scheduled to be installed in time for the 164th Anniversary of the battle this fall. A dedication ceremony is planned for October 3, 2026. For over 30 years, BGES has sponsored interpretive markers and provided educational support across the country. We recently sponsored 13 markers at the Board of Franklin Trust’s Rippa Villa and Spring Hill sites in Tennessee as Phase I of a two-part project in partnership with our friends at the Board of Franklin Trust. These 13 markers were installed in July, and Phase II anticipates the addition of 12 more historic markers for recently preserved properties in Franklin, part of the amazing reclamation being done by the Board of Franklin Trust, American Battlefields Association, and others in middle Tennessee. Also, we are pleased to announce a new slate of projects planned with our friends at Brice’s Crossroads, Mississippi, Monterey Pass, Pennsylvania, South Mountain, Maryland, New Hope Church, Georgia, and several places in North Carolina. We are actively engaged in exploring new projects in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, but we need your help to support our mission. We hope that you will join us as we not only seek to preserve the land where important events happened in our past, but also help to understand it with accurate, detailed, and balanced interpretation by professional historians. Please consider joining us and support our mission. By “Leading From the Front,” We invite you to join America’s premier results-oriented Civil War education society. We depend on our members’ generosity to support our mission. BGES is a 501(c)(3) organization; therefore, membership donations are 100% tax-deductible. How to join. https://blueandgrayeducation.org/membership. Thank you for your generous support of our work. I look forward to seeing you on a battlefield soon!
Robert D. Jenkins Sr. Executive Director, Blue and Gray Education Society, Inc.
Facing page: Some of the signage sponsored by BGES.