There's a measure before the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee to name the VA outpatient clinic in Bloomington for Andrew Jackson Smith, a Civil War soldier awarded the Medal of Honor.
Smith escaped slavery in Kentucky and became a servant for Lt. Col. John Warner of Clinton of the 41st Illinois Volunteer Regiment. He lived for a time in Clinton. When President Abraham Lincoln authorized the formation of Black army units, Smith joined the 55th Massachusetts Colored Infantry and distinguished himself at the Battle of Honey Hill during Sherman's march to the sea.
The Woodrow Wilson administration suppressed the nomination for the Medal of Honor. It wasn't until the Clinton administration, long after Smith's death, that he was awarded the medal. It was given to his daughter.
The entire Illinois congressional delegation supports the VA clinic bill. It would turn the clinic into the Andrew Jackson Smith Medal of Honor Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic.
McLean County Veterans Assistance Commission chair Art Rodriguez has pushed the naming idea for years. Rodriguez is also commander of American Legion Post 270, and vice president of America's Gold Star Families.
"He had the basic job, what they call the 'color bearer.' I always tell the young people [and] they go ... 'So he carried the flags?' No. He was the signal guy. They didn't have cell phones back then. So, it was very critical the job he had," said Rodriguez.
It was also a dangerous position, because opposing forces targeted color bearers to gain tactical advantages and disrupt unit coordination. Rodriguez says feedback from Twin City veterans is overwhelmingly positive because Smith was not an officer or lawmaker. He was a corporal.
"We have many veterans in this community that are African American, Hispanic, Asian, on and on and on. And this is I think one way to do some healing of veterans that have served this country from this community," said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said the idea arose during a veterans meeting. They decided to try to find a name of someone other than a politician to put on the clinic. Rodriguez said they wanted something historical and reflective of McLean County or Central Illinois. He pulled up research on the dozen or so Medal of Honor recipients for Central Illinois, particularly McLean County. He said he believes two are still buried in Bloomington-Normal. He contacted their families and got no response, so broadened the search to find Smith, out of Clinton.
He noted there is a Bloomington-Normal connection. Now retired Illinois State University scholar Sharon MacDonald and then graduate student Robert Beckman have written a book about the life of Andrew Jackson Smith, Carrying the Colors: The Life and Legacy of Medal of Honor Recipient Andrew Jackson Smith.
Rodriguez said Smith’s grandson is still alive, and Rodriguez has been communicating with the family through a great nephew throughout the effort to gain naming approval. It was disrupted several times, when the original sponsor, U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, was not re-elected, then by COVID, and by a protracted search for a new U.S. House speaker.
Rodriguez said Smith's history after the war bolsters the case for the naming. After his bravery on the field, Smith went back to Kentucky and became part of a growing Black middle class, even during the Jim Crow era.
“(He) fought for his freedom. Many of us are born with this freedom, but he actually fought for it. Then he comes back and starts a business. Becomes what we might call a millionaire today, a very, very successful businessperson. And I think he set kind of a grassroots setup similar to the Black Wall Street in Tulsa. And come to recently find out we had something like that here in Normal, Illinois, something very similar. And I think he set an example for many African Americans back in those days — now that you're free, develop your own business and grow from there,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said if/when the bill passes, he’d also like to see it lead to a memorial for Black Civil War veterans that fought out of McLean County and have a celebration in which Smith’s family can come from Indianapolis and Chicago and see the work.
