His great-great-grandfather was an enslaved guide at Mammoth Cave, now this park ranger hopes to be ‘a voice’ for his relatives
Two hundred feet below ground level at Mammoth Cave National Park, Park Ranger Jerry Bransford shines his flashlight on the cave’s wall and illuminates an inscription: “Mat 1850.”
“Mat” was Jerry’s great-great-grandfather Materson Bransford, one of three African-American enslaved guides who were the first to introduce tourists to the cave.