This week on campus, there was a re-enactment of the camp and battle scenes from the American Civil War in celebration of 150 years since the war started. Here are a few pictures we took there. More than the very surreal feeling of being back in time to when the fate of the country’s unity lay in a balance, subjected to the force of will and rhetoric from the two divides, there was also a good feeling of being able to talk to men descended from real life veterans of the war. The half hour we spent in their company was jolly, and very educative. They do know their history, and many of them have spent decades researching it, and collecting artifacts and relics from the time.
And then we posed for pictures wearing some of their military fatigues, and even trying out the military pose with the gun and bayonet as new recruits would, in those days. One of the “officers” looked at us and warned, in a voice so reminiscent of a real commander. “Be careful boys. If you get too far from camp and you get into the hands of those damned Confederates, I won’t be responsible for whatever happens to you.”
The events will round off this week with a talk on campus by famous Civil War film maker/documentarian Ken Burns at the Merridean Ballroom on Wednesday. The event had already sold out since months ago. But by some luck and persistence, your sincerely has found a way to get into the event without a ticket, with help from some connected people. Don’t ask me how, but I might tell you after the event. I hear that Mr. Burns is one of the most famous documentarians on the Civil War with two Academy Award nominations to his name, and seven Emmy Awards.
