Yes, this is a photo of me doing living history as a Confederate sailor at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond in 2005. Unfortunately, this museum has been dogged by controversy over the past few years, but our experience there has been very positive.
My living history organization is called Ship's Company of the Roanoke and was formed in 2004. We portray sailors and Marines from the American Revolution, War of 1812, and the Civil War. We portray both Union and Confederate services depending on what the event calls for. We were honored to be chosen to do a living history presentation at MOC in conjunction with their recent exhibit on the Confederate Navy. We returned again in 2006 and will be going back in July. Unlike many, we feel that the museum staff, including Waite Rawls are doing the best job they can under the current circumstances. The goal of our organization is education, and we do not get bogged down in politics as some groups do. No matter if we are at MOC or an event that requires us to portray the US Navy, we do the same amount of educational programming in any case. We have built strong relationships with many museums in North Carolina and Virginia and hope to continue to do so. Many of our members are associated with museums and historic sites either as employees, volunteers, or board members.
My point is, we are unlike most of your typical "reenactment" units. We wish there were more out there like us, but to each his own I suppose. I think people really appreciate what we do and we always attract a crowd, whether we are shooting guns or not!
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