Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/84421
THIS WEEK WITH MARGARET THIS WEEK WITH MARGARET The Civil War Through New Eyes by MARGARET DICKSON It is hard for me to believe that it has been almost a year since I traveled with a group of folks from our community — and one or two from elsewhere in North Carolina — and stumbled upon the extraordinary Hari Jones one rainy morning in a small museum in Washington, D.C. Our amazing encounter happened only because a last minute schedule change landed us at exactly the right place, at exactly the right time. Jones turned out to be one of the most extraordinary speakers I remember hearing — thorough, well- researched and impassioned. We, our little group and others in the audience, were spellbound as he challenged conventional understanding of our nation's most devastating conflict, the Civil War. He showed us that there are aspects of the Civil War that many of us never knew about and never even considered. So what were we doing in Washington in the first place? Our little band is part of a statewide planning committee working to transform what is now the small, regionally focused Museum of the Cape Fear on the corner of Bradford and Arsenal Avenues downtown. We envision something with a much greater reach: our nation's first state-supported museum that interprets the Civil War and its aftermath. This is no small undertaking and the outcome can be huge for our community. During our trip, we visited about half a dozen museums, each with a different mission and some much better executed than others. Each had been chosen for what it might teach us — lessons good and bad — about the museum being planned for Fayetteville. While we did learn a great deal about museums and what they will be in the future, we also agreed that Jones was our greatest find. Why? Hari Jones spot that Jones had to come to Fayetteville to speak to our community, and thanks to the Museum of the Cape Fear Foundation, he is doing just that. Because more than any one thing we saw or experienced, Jones speaks to what this new museum can be for our community, our region and our state. He speaks to the unique nature of the Civil War experience, especially in the Southern states where it was largely fought, and to the reality that the war was a different experience for every single human being who lived through it —white, black, man, woman and child. Jones reminds us as well that many of the issues that troubled Americans in the lead-up, during and after the Civil War, are not resolved to this day. We hear them echoing in the political campaigns being waged in the fall of 2012. No one disputes that the Civil War and its aftermath were the most cataclysmic events ever to befall Fayetteville, the state of North Carolina which lost more soldiers than any state in the Union and the young nation that had to rebuild itself. In the final days of the war, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman spared Fayetteville the blazing fate he handed Atlanta and much of South Carolina, but the impact of an Army of 62,000 soldiers and 25,000 camp followers marching into a Fayetteville of somewhere around 6,000 residents — 2,000 of whom worked at the arsenal — simply cannot be overstated. That would be stunning today, but try to imagine the impact our little hamlet in 1865. Sherman's mission was to destroy the federal arsenal, which had been taken over by the Confederates, and he did just that. Imagine all of Fort Bragg being wiped out tomorrow, and you get the picture. We all have a picture in our minds of what the Civil War really was, and like all great events, people can and do harbor different and sometimes contrary versions. What we heard from Jones was a version — a scholarly and animated version — like we had never heard before. We later learned that Jones, assistant director and curator of the African- American Civil War Museum in Washington, is a regular contributor to the History Channel, a consultant to the Smithsonian and has spoken to groups ranging from the esteemed Civil War Preservation Trust to major universities across the country. He is also a former U.S. Marine intelligence officer, proud to have served our country's military. Our traveling band agreed on the Jones will be here to share his knowledge of the Civil War on Monday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre on Hay Street. Best of all, admission is free! War is a significant part of our collective history. Jones brings a unique perspective and a vision of what the new Civil War Museum will mean to our community. Do come. We promise you a thought- Our community has a long and storied military presence, and the Civil provoking, mind-expanding and thoroughly entertaining experience! tributing Writer, COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. MARGARET DICKSON, Con- WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM SEPT. 26 - OCT. 2, 2012 UCW 5