Civil War Mini-Summer Institute

On May 14th and 15th, fifty teachers joined us in the Urbana Middle School and Fishers, Indiana for a day and a half workshop about the Civil War. Professor Bruce Levine, J.G. Randall professor of History at the University of Illinois, joined us on Friday night for a lecture on Abraham Lincoln and his role in the Civil War. Professor Levine argued that the Civil War was an unprecedentedly transformative event in American history and guided us through an exploration on Lincoln's writings and behaviors of that period. Holding up the binary of "actor" or "acted upon," Professor Levine found that Lincoln fell somewhere in the middle, arguing that while Lincoln frequently reacted to events rather than reaching out to shape them, his reactions were guided by consistent, firmly held beliefs and principles.

After Professor Levine's keynote, the group had an hour of question and answer which led to some really great discussions about Lincoln and the Civil War generally.

Saturday morning, we reconvened for the bus trip to Conner Prairie. Conner Prairie is a living history museum in Fishers, Indiana, that preserves the William Conner home, and recreates part of life in Indiana in the 19th century. On Saturday, May 15th, they were celebrating "Civil War Days," an exploration of life during the Civil War, complete with a reenacted skirmish between Union and Confederate troops.

This is the army encampment. It was just about lunchtime when we arrived.

A few of our Robeson teachers enjoyed watching a Civil War surgeon explain his craft,
and then the armies began to move.

The soldiers, men and boys, marched grimly to the battlefield.

Smoke billowed from artillery fire, as spectators, modern and otherwise, looked on.

Conner Prairie put together a great program of events, including lectures from the Union 28th Colored Unit, a tomahawk throwing competition in the Lenape village and reenactments of Civil War dress, cooking, medicine and photography. Overall, it was a very fun day and a new way to learn about life in 19th century America.