NATCHEZ, Miss. (WJTV) – It’s been a lot of hard work to get to this point, the unveiling of 27 African American historical markers that will be placed at sites throughout Natchez.

The markers will allow visitors to have a self-guided tour of local African American history. Mayor Dan Gibson said they’re finally telling the whole story.

“I’m so grateful to be in the city that celebrates our diversity, that celebrates our history, commemorates our history, recognizes that even the history that is not good is still our history. It all has been used, I believe, by the hand of God, to bring about a perfect recipe that only He can concoct. That is the recipe called you and me,” he said.

Some of the notable sites include the home that writer Richard Wright grew up in. Valencia Hall’s family has owned the home for decades and says it’s important to tell these stories.

“We are about unity, not division, not a racial divide. We are one Natchez. These 27 historical markers, to Black Natchezians, are continuing to tell the story, and we tell it. The bitterness, the pain and the beauty of Black citizens of Natchez,” said Hall, a Natchez alderwoman.

Dr. John Banks was the first African American doctor in Natchez. He also owned the first Black bank in the city with his colleague. His house was critical in the Civil Rights Movement. The Banks home is now a museum.

“When you talk about having the first Black physician in Natchez, located on St. Catherine’s Street, that we consider to be the Wall Street of Natchez for African Americans, then we think that this is significant,” said Thelma S. Newsome, a tour guide at the home.

Natchez was the second busiest slave market in the deep South and the forks in the road was the spot where it all happened. It has now been added to the National Park Service (NPS) because of its national significance.

“What’s important is that there be a place where people can come and comprehend what happened in that location. It is a site of conscience. People need to come and learn the facts, but they also need a way to comprehend the enormity of the facts and to give pause and really take it on the magnitude of what built this country,” said NPS Superintendent Kathleen Bond.

The city’s public works department will install the markers at each site over the next several months.