The National Park Service will open at park in Corinth to commemorate the lives of blacks who sought freedom during the Civil War.

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran and Mississippi Supreme Court Presiding Justice James E. Graves Jr. are scheduled to speak at Saturday’s event at the Contraband Camp located at the Corinth battlefield site.

Contraband camps were places where former slaves escaped to live behind Union lines before the end of the Civil War.

Historians say in Corinth, the camp grew to about 6,000 residents and was a thriving community that included teachers, farmers, laundry workers and others.