Talking About Writers of the Civil War

The Middlesex County Historical Society presents "Shock and Awe in 1862: American Writers and the Meaning of the Civil War" on Thursday March 7 at 7 pm in the Hubbard Room of Russell Library 123 Broad Street. Trinity College Professor Christopher Hager will trace the different ways American authors including Hawthorne, Melville, Emerson, and Davis responded to the shocking turns of events that marked the second year of the Civil War. There will also be copies of his new book, Word by Word: Emancipation and the Act of Writing (Harvard University Press) for sale and inscription. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 860-347-0746.

A Unique Holiday Celebration

This is not a review.  This is not a press release.  Just an invitation. 
 
 A Civil War Christmas:An American Musical Celebration opened on Thursday night at Oddfellows Playhouse.  The production is a collaboration between CT Heritage Productions and Oddfellows Playhouse, bringing a multi-generational cast together to tell this story.

It is a different show than you might expect to see onstage around the holidays.  It is a play, with music - not a musical. Traditional carols and other popular folk songs and hymns of the time serve to weave together a series of vignettes of characters, both historical and fictional, to tell the story of Christmas 1864. 

It is a play that contains history, thought, heartbreak and humor.  It is not saccharine sweet holiday-fare, but thoughtful and thought-provoking.  It is history, so yes, you might be cynical and say "I know how it ends", but what it does offer in ending is not fact, but hope.  And isn't hope something we all could use a little more of these days?

We hope you'll join us.

A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration
by Paula Vogel
Music by Daryl Waters
Made possible by CT Humanities, 
Middletown Commission on the Arts 
Eli Cannon's Tap Room & many CT Heritage Production Donors
Friday December 7 - 7:30pm
Saturday December 8 - 7:30pm
Thursday December 13 - 7:30pm - JUST ADDED!
Friday December 14 - 7:30pm
Saturday December 15 - 7:30pm
$15 Adults / $8 Students & Seniors
860-347-6143 or www.oddfellows.org

The reservations are getting pretty full.  So we recommend calling in advance to order tickets.  860-347-6143. 

Holiday Season Offerings at Oddfellows

With the holiday season approaching, there are multiple chance to take the family out to see some live theater here in Middletown. So you better start planning!

Huck Finn
by Mark Twain

Adapted by Eric Coble from the novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" 
November 29, 30 and December 1 - 7:00pm

Oddfellows Playhouse’s Junior Repertory Company will present Huck Finn by Eric Coble, Adapted from the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. 

Huck Finn flees the claws of "civilization" for the freedom of the mighty Mississippi, only to find himself running from mobs, getting shot at, stealing gold, digging escape tunnels and dressing as a woman. And perhaps his greatest adventure: unexpectedly finding his own moral compass in a world of corruption and hypocrisy.  This highly-theatrical adaptation presented by the Junior Repertory Company and directed by Lorra Webb, is the second of Coble’s work produced at the Playhouse, following 2006’s Gold in the Bones.  This classic tale of adventure is great for families and students of all ages.

The production runs Thursday thru Saturday, November 29, 30 and December 1  All performances begin at 7:00 p.m.  Tickets are $15 for Adults and $8 for Students/Seniors.  Anyone brining a canned food item for Amazing Grace Food Pantry will receive a $2 discount on their ticket.  Tickets are available online at www.oddfellows.org or by calling 860-347-6143. 
A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration
by Paula Vogel, Music by Daryl Waters
December 6,7,8, 14, 15 - 7:30pm

The play, directed by Peter Loffedo, will feature a multigenerational cast of actors from the community, including members of Oddfellows’ Teen Repertory Company and CT Heritage Productions.  The Connecticut Humanities Council and Middletown Commission on the Arts is generously helping to fund this production because of its unique combination of historical significance, audience appeal, and educational storytelling.  

The play is set is Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve 1864, during the Civil War.  President Lincoln has just been reelected and General Sherman is marching troops into battle.  Interweaving historical figures with fictional characters, A Civil War Christmas not only entertains but inspires the audience by portraying the real-life struggles that occurred and the human spirit that endured during one of the most difficult times in our history. Moving swiftly from scene to scene, it chronicles many aspects of the period, from something of the private life of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to the moving story of an African-American soldier whose wife has been cruelly kidnapped.  Christmas carols and folk songs are sung throughout by the ensemble, with additional period music performed by a group of instrumentalists. 

The production runs December 6, 7, 8, 14, 15 at Oddfellows Playhouse.  All performances are at 7:30pm.  Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students and seniors. Thursday December 6 is a Pay-What-You-Can Performance.  Please bring a non-perishable food item to donate to Amazing Grace Food Pantry.  Tickets are available online at ww.oddfellows.org or by calling860-347-6143.  The performance is made possible through special funding from the Connecticut Humanities Council, The Middletown Commission on the Arts, and Eli Cannon’s Tap Room.

Multi-generational Cast to Take the Stage for Holiday Production

Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater and Connecticut Heritage Productions are joining creative forces this holiday season with a co-production of A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel.  The play will perform at Oddfellows Playhouse from December 6-15.  A Civil War Christmas received its world premiere at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven in 2008.  The play is by Paula Vogel, with music by Daryl Waters. 

Middlesex County Historical Society Featured in Civil War Tour

Connecticut’s Civil War Treasure Troves, A Travel-Tour Adventure

What:

Join historian and author Bill Hosley on Saturday, September 24, 2011 for a day-long bus trip to some of Connecticut’s most important Civil War collections and sites.

When & Where:

We will depart from and return to the CT Historical Society (8:30am) from 1 Elizabeth Street at the corner of Asylum in Hartford.

This trip is part of the Civil War 150 Commemoration.

The Scoop:

Though Connecticut suffered massive losses and contributed mightily to the economic and technological superiority that enabled the Union victory, no battles were fought here, our Generals aren’t famous and there is no major museum or destination of the kind found in Richmond, Charleston, New Orleans and the dozens of battlefield sites scattered from Gettysburg to Vicksburg.

But, Connecticut has outstanding Civil War material in the public domain – scattered among dozens of museums, public buildings, veteran’s halls and libraries – places that preserve and present evidence of our involvement in the first great modern war. This trip will visit and explore four of the best:

Winsted: Winsted has three Civil War monuments including one of the most elaborate and picturesque as any landmark in Connecticut. The crown jewel of Winsted’s Civil War heritage is collections from the defunct Palmer Post GAR (Grand Army of the Republic veteran’s society) at the Winchester Historical Society’s Solomon Rockwell House.

Middletown: The Middlesex County Historical Society, housed in the General Joseph Mansfield house, has, since it’s founding in 1901, amassed collections related to the man, the town and the War. To commemorate the 150^th, the Society mounted "Hard & Stirring Times: Middletown and the Civil War," an object-rich, state-of-the-art history exhibit that will remain on view through 2018. The day of our visit the there will be reenactors, story-tellers and an array of things to see and do.

Rockville: The New England Civil War Museum, housed on the Second Floor of Rockville’s glorious 1889 ”Memorial Building” / town hall is one of the last and best of the many GAR Post facilities that numbered in the dozens a century ago. These museum-like fraternal repositories provided a platform for collecting and preserving evidence of Connecticut in the war. The best, like this, were elaborately ornamented with stained glass, custom-designed cases, libraries, smoking rooms and collections. In addition to the Civil War Museum, Rockville’s Veterans Memorial tower at Fox Hill Park (1939) is worth a detour. This is an eye-popping discovery for those who’ve never seen it.

Hartford: Connecticut’s State Capital is so rich in Civil War-related collections and attractions that it’s hard to see it all in one day. Our visit will start at the State Capitol. Dedicated on the anniversary of Antietam, 1879, the Capitol was designed as a “memorial hall” that deliberately merged civic and memorial functions, incorporating art, artifacts and galleries to museum-like effect at a time when museums were few and far between. The highlight of Connecticut’s Capitol is Battle Flag Hall where visitors will find the nation’s largest collection of Regimental Flags, a statue to War Governor William Buckingham, and a Gatling gun made at Colt’s Armory. The Capitol is embellished with statues and bas-relief portraits honoring Connecticut war Generals Alfred Terry, John Sedgwick, and Joseph Hawley and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. On the Capitol grounds are statues including Bella Lyon Pratt’s “Andersonville Boy” and a rare and monstrously destructive 13” seacoast mortar In nearby Bushnell Park is architect George Keller’s 1886 Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Arch - a masterpiece with its famous terra cotta frieze illustrating scenes from the war. Across from the Capitol is the Museum of Connecticut History, home of the state’s premiere display of Colt’s Manufacturing Co. material and “Connecticut for the Union” a state-of-the-art Civil War history exhibit featuring an extraordinary collection of relevant and documented Connecticut objects, firearms , artifacts, uniforms and more.

The day concludes with a reception and show and tell of Civil War treasures at Connecticut Historical Society.

DEPARTS PROMPTLY FROM CHS AT 8:30 AM! RETURNS AROUND 5PM!

Registration

$70 per person | $60 for CHS members. Your fee includes:

• Bus transportation, all site admissions and tour narration • Box lunch and en route refreshments

• Ample free parking for the day • Post-tour reception and special viewing of selected Civil War

Collections at the Connecticut Historical Society

To register:

• Online: store.chs.org • Or, by phone with credit card: call Mary Muller at (860) 236-5621 x209 • Or, mail your check (payable to: Connecticut Historical Society, memo - bus trip) to CHS, Attention Mary Muller, One Elizabeth Street, Hartford, CT 06105

CHS is located at 1 Elizabeth Street in Hartford at the corner of Elizabeth & Aslyum. To learn more, visit www.chs.org.

###

About Connecticut Historical Society:

Founded in 1825, The Connecticut Historical Society is a non-profit museum, library, research and education center. We strive to inspire and foster a life-long interest in history and facilitate a passion for learning about history through research assistance, exhibitions, tours and programs for all ages. To learn more, visit www.chs.org or call 860.236.5621.

About the Tour Guide, Bill Hosley:

William Hosley, Principal of Terra Firma Northeast, is a cultural resource consultant, planner, teacher, writer, and photographer. He was the former Director of the New Haven Museum and Connecticut Landmarks. Prior to that, as a curator and exhibition developer at Wadsworth Atheneum, Bill organized award-winning exhibitions including The Great River: Art & Society of the Connecticut Valley and Sam & Elizabeth: Legend and Legacy of Colt's Empire.. Bill originated and co-curates “Historic Hartford” and “Creating Sense of Place for Connecticut” on Facebook.

Civil War in Middletown

Civil War reenactors from Company G of the 14th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry were in town today, behind the General Mansfield House of the Middlesex County Historical Society. We had an interesting chat with Sergeant Paul Martinello (left), who answered questions about the life of the ordinary Connecticut volunteer in the mid nineteenth century. Especially interesting were the details he provided about the standard issue Springfield rifle-musket that his unit was equipped with, as well as other firearms from the period. The Springfield rifle-musket was, as the latter part of its name implies, a muzzle loading weapon. Sergeant Martinello added that it was not dissimilar to the Enfield rifle-musket which began to see use in the 1850s in the British Empire. This struck a chord with me, as the Enfield is famous in Indian history for being a major cause of the Indian 'Mutiny' of 1857 (Hindu and Muslim soldiers strenuously objected to having to bite the greased cartridge that was larded with cow and pig fat).

Many North American soldiers used the Enfield as well as the Springfield: since the calibers of the weapons were almost identical (.58 for the Springfield versus .577 for the Enfield), the ammunition was practically interchangeable. The term 'rifle' or 'rifled' refers to the patterned grooving cut into the interior of the barrel wall, which caused the projectile, an early version of the conventional missile shaped bullet called the 'Minié ball' (after the French inventor of the same name), to spin rapidly as it exited the barrel. Note that even though it was called a 'ball', the projectile was really bullet shaped. Prior to the Minié ball, ammunition was spherical and the tolerances were fairly low (i.e., the diameter of the ball was significantly smaller than that of the barrel); as a result the ball would ricochet up the barrel and veer off in whatever direction was dictated by the last contact with the barrel wall. The spinning motion of the Minié projectile and the precision sizing of the bullet and barrel dramatically enhanced accuracy and range, so much so that proper gun sights were being introduced at this time for sharpshooters. The range was about 300 to 500 yards, with up to 1000 yards for sharpshooters with sights. The Minié ball was made of lead and was heavy, and on impact it spread out. This did extraordinary damage to the body, and was responsible for the large number of amputations during the Civil War, since a bone could not be easily repaired after being shattered by the expanding bullet. The increased range and effect naturally changed the nature of battle.

The Springfield and Enfield might be thought of as a transition from the old muzzle-loading muskets like the Brown Bess (range about 100 yards) to the breech-loading rifles that we are familiar with from Hollywood Westerns like 'The Rifleman'.













Company G demonstrated how the weapons were loaded and fired. It's a complicated process, involving nine discrete steps. According to the National Park Service website for Vicksburg, 'a soldier on the drill field would be expected to load and fire a musket 3-4 times a minute,' but 'in combat it was much different.'

A particularly nice feature of Company G is that it has a mess cook who prepares Civil War dishes for the soldiers. Sergeant Martinello told of having eaten rabbit at one reenactment. We were starting to get pretty hungry just standing there listening to his war stories, so it was a good thing we left when we did. I don't imagine the unit would have taken too kindly to us raiding the pot.

Photo credits: Pearse and Vijay Pinch