Obviously, an interest in CW history played a part, but was not the catalyst that led to reenacting.

I convinced my family to attend the 140th Gburg reenactment as our family vacation; they were relatively willing after being "forced" to go to the battlefield two years earlier.

Being uninformed about the hobby, we were relatively wide-eyed for the event, even with noting some historical discrepancies, etc.  I bought my (then) 11 year old son a canteen, and myself a '63 Springfield.  

On the third day, after we had spoken to some reenactors, my son looked up at me and said, "Dad, can we do this?"

My son has Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism.  Most of his interests had to do with video games and avoiding dealing with other people ("Normal" behavior was hard for him to understand, especially social mores).  By getting into reenacting, he would have to socialize, interact with people.  We'd be spending time together as Father and Son, without the ladies of the family needing to be considered.  And, yeah, it fed the history bug in me.

Nathaniel being too young to be a rifleman, he determined to be a drummer.  He joined the middle school band to learn how, and we got him lessons with a local member of Camp Chase Fife and Drum.  Through encouragement from his comrades and slow but steady work, he's gotten good enough to be company drummer.  Even those in other units who have known him since we started have commented on his improvement.  His social skills have improved dramatically, and he's learning how to deal with other people.

Reenacting has been very, very good for him.  It gave him a setting where doing something "weird" was normal and acceptable.  It gave him people who would take him in and work with him, and allow for his quirks, while showing him some level of discipline needed to function in the hobby.

As much as I've enjoyed the hobby myself, I'm most glad about the transformation it has helped make in him.  

Quote :

flattop32355 wrote : Reenacting has been very, very good for him.  It gave him a setting where doing something "weird" was normal and acceptable.

Bernie,

What the heck to you mean by "weird"? There's absolutely nothing weird about this Hobby, or the participants. At least nothing I've observed!  

Seriously, that's a great story.  

I'm lucky in that I've been able to visit a number of places that have made, for me, history come to life. It's not just dry, arbitrary names and dates, it's real. This, I hope, will be one more way to take it out of the pages of a book and get it into people's imaginations. Plus, this seems like the best way to get to eat genuine hardtack, maybe without the weevils.  

--Last edited by Private Glover on 2008-08-30 22:35:44 --

I joined the hobby in November of 2006. My girlfriend (at the time) and I were studying a lot of Cincinnati history especially the Underground Railroad. We went to a few UGRR events and sites and I saw my first reenactment (since 1984) in '06 in Washington, Kentucky while we planned on listening to a first impression of a Harriet B. Stowe reenactor. After a few more UGRR events that were almost always coupled with CW scenarios, I was talked into becoming recruited by some fellows at Tall Stacks. Since then, some of my pards at CW events that I've attended have become my best friends. Now, I look forward to every event and try to broaden my knowledge of the era and to expand the living history impression that I've created.

Rufus Guy
Cincinnati, Ohio

Quote :

Rufus wrote :  After a few more UGRR events that were almost always coupled with CW scenarios,

There are UGRR events? Okay, I'm intrigued. I wanted to put on an underground railroad cph-style event a couple years ago, but couldn't get enough interest. Had an "Ohio River" facsimile to cross, caves to hide in, about 15-20 miles to cover, but it's just not what reenactors seemed to want.

I'm still interested in the UGRR though, either public interpretation or reenactor-only. What kind of things are done?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

The better of them that I have seen was called "Crossing the River Jordan" by the Mid States Living History Association at Tall Stacks in Cincinnati in '06. The CW event that I mentioned in Washington, Kentucky had a little bit, most notably the H.B. Stowe impressionist in front of the H.B. Stowe Home/Museum. A Morgan's Raid event at the Gorman Farm in Evendale had a small scenario that was played out in the woods beyond the "battlefield" complete with a wagon that had a false floor for fugitive runaways tracked by bounty hunters on horseback.
The John Rankin House in Ripley had a small event. The UGRR Museum does a little bit, and there were tours of the Cincinnati area by UGRR historian Joyce Campbell and at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincy that emphasized the efforts of Levi Coffin and Harriet Wilson (participant at a College Hill UGRR station).

Rufus Guy
Ohio Valley CW Assoc./ 19th U.S. Regulars  

--Last edited by Rufus on 2008-09-22 23:10:27 --

Do you know of anything upcoming?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

I haven't heard of anything that has yet to take place this year.