Monday, June 3, 2013

Remembering 1861: the Sesquicentennial


As many of you are aware (and for those that aren't - either from a lack of news or lack of being a U.S. citizen [it's okay, we still love you!]), the sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of the Civil War is happening right now. (If you want to check out some commemorative events going on right now, check out the Civil War Trust's website.)

I took a Civil War Literature course in university and I will never have enough words to convey how tragically awe-inspiring it was to study such a historic event in my country's history. Yes, there have certainly been plenty of events in my country's past that I've studied outside of school (what can I say, I'm a geek like that); but the Civil War truly touched the inner historian in me as no other historical event had previously dared.

I was sitting in class one day as we were reading Ambrose Bierce (if you ever get a chance to read his work, do it, he's phenomenal). As we were discussing his work in detail and depth, I swore that I could hear the sounds of battle and the tramping sound of feet running past me as cannons blasted nearby.


Maybe it was just my overactive imagination, but it made me think about time and how things that happened years in the past are still things that matter in the present.

In honor of this anniversary, I'd like to share with you part of my final project for the class. You won't be able to get all of it; I wrote and filmed a documentary-like narrative entitled "Voices of the Civil War: Camp Followers." 

I did a lot of research for this project and tried to keep everything as real as I could make it, so it's technically a work of historical fiction. I'll share the written aspect of the script and hopefully you'll get to experience a small taste of what living in America during the Civil War was like. 

You'll find links to each promised "letter" from the Civil War below (as I post them).



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