It’s difficult to grasp the horrors of the war between brothers, but the History Department at Genesee Community College is offering a glimpse at what life was like during the American Civil War with a weekend-long encampment featuring a number of period-authentic activities and demonstrations.
From Friday, April 27 through Sunday, April 29, the Lima Campus Center of GCC will host Civil War re-enactors, who will dress in authentic period costumes including soldier regalia from both the Union and Confederate armies, and provide a look at life in the camps. Skirmishes between the two sides will allow visitors to experience life on the battlefield with demonstrations of military training, artillery and battlefield medical care.
“Civilians,” some also dressed in authentic garb, will offer demonstrations of quilting and knitting, spinning, tinsmithing and cooking on the campsite, while real 19th century newspapers will be on display inside the Campus Center. The Excelsior Fife and Drum Band and an interfaith service featuring a sermon delivered by the Rev. Gary Hakes will engage visitors in the entertainment and spiritual aspects of life during the Civil War.
On Friday, re-enactors will be setting up camp from late afternoon through early evening, and the Genesee Country Museum will offer a lecture on Victorian fashion, with the majority of events slated for Saturday, including: quilting, knitting and fiber spinning demonstrations, 19th Century children’s games, discussion of uniforms and open camp demonstrations of “soldiering,” lecture on the Underground Railroad by local history buff Jerry Bennett, skirmish between the camps, with a look at medical and surgical practices by John Potera. Award-winning actress Eleanor Sterns will portray Clara Barton.
The encampment closes Sunday with a fiber arts program, a metal working demonstration by the Genesee Country Museum, and an interfaith service by the Rev. Gary Hakes of Virginia, who will deliver a sermon authentic to the period. After the service, the camps will engage in a game of “round ball,” the forerunner to what is now baseball.
GCC history instructor and Civil War historian Derek Maxfield believes visitors will find the event not only educational, but quite moving. “The sights, the smells, the sounds of military camp life will be enthralling. People will forget they live in 2012,” he said.
All events are free and open to the public, and will go on regardless of weather conditions. For information, contact GCC history instructor Derek Maxfield via email: ddmaxfield@genesee.edu.
For directions to the encampment at the Lima Campus Center, 7285 Gale Road, Lima visit: http://www.genesee.edu/about/campuses/Lima/map.cfm.
