Walk through the 1860s brings history to life

 

[March 16, 2019] 

On Friday, March 15, just over 150 area fifth grade students from Central, Northwest, and Washington-Monroe Elementary Schools presented “A Walk Through the 1860s.”

The walk, which the schools have been doing for the past five years, is like a living wax museum, with the students bringing real historical characters from the Civil War to life through their presentations.

The fifth graders have been studying the Civil War this semester, and Lincoln Heritage Museum Director Anne Moseley says, “This is a unique opportunity for students to portray a historical figure they are learning about in their textbooks at school, and learn history outside of the classroom.”

Moseley said that this year’s characters included more journalists and women involved in the war cause, such as war correspondent Nellie Bly, who reported on asylums after the war, and Hattie Laughton, a union spy who obtained secret information from the other side. Moseley enjoys seeing the student’s outfits and the characters they play.

As the many visitors that included parents and grandparents of the students walked through both the downstairs and upstairs gallery, they heard students tell the stories of the historical figures and their roles in the Civil War.



Well-known figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln



Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Harriet Tubman, and Clara Barton shared their stories.

As Lincoln spoke, he said he originally assured people he would not change slavery. However, during the war, Lincoln hired many generals to help bring an end to slavery.

Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman distinguished himself in the Battle of Bull Run.

In addition, there were lesser known figures like Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the first woman to be awarded a medal of honor, and Alan Pinkerton, who headed the Union Intelligence Service and sometimes acted as Lincoln’s bodyguard.



Photographer Matthew Brady helped document the horrors of the war.

Soldiers close to starvation said they hunted game and ate fruit and if they got hurt, some laid out in fields for days before they were found.

Some students played the soldiers who were injured in the war and lost arms or legs, and others played the doctors who treated them.

Other students played characters who were Confederate or Union soldiers, farmers who volunteered for the war, women who disguised themselves as men and fought in the war, abolitionists fighting to end slavery, and people who hid the slaves in the Underground Railroad.



The women who helped with the war effort may not have fought in the war, but as one character said, “We may not have risked our lives, but we did what we thought was right to help our country.”



As has become a tradition, students from Central School performed the Virginia Reel at the end of their performances.

The students did well playing roles from a significant era in American history and the experience brought history to life for both the students and the visitors.

[Angela Reiners with photos by Reiners and Curtis Fox]