Civil War Living History at a Traditionally Colonial Site

Tomorrow our living history group will provide a Civil War era program at Historic Edenton, which is traditionally a colonial/Revolutionary/Federal period site. The site has never before done any Civil War programming. When we submitted our proposal for living history last year, we were actually trying to cultivate another Age of Sail event for our group. We were certain the site staff would want to focus on their traditional time period. However, they asked for a Civl War era program.

Edenton is not without Civil War history. Over the past few years, the town has received via long-term loan two of the original four cannons in the Edenton Bell Battery. Their history is linked with the Albemarle Sound, which witnessed a number of naval operations during the Civil War. Harriet Jacobs, a slave who escaped via the Maritime Underground Railroad and later wrote the book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was from Edenton. So the context and background for our program is pretty extensive.

The question is more one of what the reaction of Edenton's residents will be to a Civil War era program. I fully expect a tremendous amount of interest and enthusiasm. Folks in Edenton are very history minded and I think they will see this as another avenue for exploring their town's history and drawing tourists to their location. Everyone I've talked to so far thinks this is a wonderful opportunity for their community. I think it speaks volumes that even though they haven't seen our "product" yet, they have already scheduled us to come back again next year. We're excited about this opportunity and look forward to a good day.