Pamplin Historical Park Celebrates “All Things Civil War”

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Pamplin Historical Park Celebrates “All Things Civil War”
10 Annual Civil War Weekend Activities Include Life-Size Replica of Confederate Submarine, the H.L. Hunley
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 12, 2006
Petersburg, VA – Pamplin Historical Park & The National Museum of the Civil War Solider invites
enthusiasts and families alike to the 10th annual Civil War Weekend on Saturday, June 24 and Sunday,
June 25. Join living historians and exhibitors from seven states as they bring the Civil War era to life with
music, games, storytelling, crafts, and reenactments. Civil War Weekend will also feature a 40-foot-long
replica of the H.L. Hunley, a Confederate submarine lost in Charleston (South Carolina) Harbor after
destroying a Union warship in 1864.
The original Hunley, built in 1863, was the first submarine to sink an enemy craft in combat, piercing the
side of the Union vessel with a long spike armed with an explosive mine. This accurate working
reconstruction of the famous underwater weapon is part of a traveling exhibit about the Hunley. Open on
one side, the life-size model allows spectators to see the interior of the cabin and turn the manual crank
that propelled the submarine through the water. John Dangerfield of Charleston, S.C. created the Hunley
replica after being part of the team that recovered the submarine’s remains in 2000.
“Pamplin Historical Park’s Civil War Weekend is an action-packed celebration of all things Civil War
and includes all of the great material you get at the Park everyday,” says Andrew Talkov, Director of
Education and Interpretation at Pamplin Historical Park. “The Park hopes to educate guests about some
of the lesser known technologies and innovations that developed during the Civil War and to provide the
opportunity for visitors to interact with interpreters and participate in hands-on activities.”
Every year, the Park invites living historians and re-enactors from up and down the East Coast to this
event to recreate the lives of soldiers and civilians during the War. This year living historians from Pa.,
N.Y., S.C., N.C., Md., W.Va., and Va. will demonstrate Union and Confederate combat maneuvers and
military drills. Re-enactors portraying an African American contraband camp will display the cooking
techniques and crafts of slaves who escaped from Southern plantations to gain their freedom with the
Union Army. Weapons showcases will include reproduction mortars, cannons, horse-drawn artillery and
a Gatling gun, one of the world’s first machine guns.
Members of the public can take part in many of the weekend’s activities – from deciphering signal flag
messages, to exploring period crafts and toys with a 19th-century Yankee schoolteacher, and more. To get
a feel for Civil War era weaponry, visitors, ages eight and up, can fire a reproduction black powder rifle
musket.
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“Civil War Weekend is not about generals and battles as much as it is about the people of the Civil War
era,” Talkov says. “In addition to the crafts, medical displays, and blacksmithing, this year the Park has
authors of Civil War materials on-hand to sell and autograph copies of their published work. Each event
participant has a unique story to tell, and the best way for visitors to get the most out of the weekend’s
festivities is to interact with all of the different people involved in the event.”
Musical performances will range from the Williamsburg Field Musick Fifes & Drums to the 2nd South
Carolina String Band and Historical Diversions, an 1850s style “medicine show” that combines comedy,
showmanship, and music to peddle medicinal treatments.
Civil War Weekend at Pamplin Historical Park coincides with the opening of the Park’s newest
exhibition, Many Thousands Go: African Americans and the Civil War. The exhibit highlights the
military and civilian experiences of African Americans on both sides of the conflict during the War. For
the first three months of the exhibition, the Many Thousands Go collection will include an original copy
of the Thirteenth Amendment, one of only three known “Senate” copies signed by Abraham Lincoln.
Many Thousands Go will be open from June 24, 2006 through May 2007.
Check the Park’s website, www.pamplinpark.org for Civil War Weekend’s program schedule. The Park’s
general admission prices, $13.50 for adults, $12.00 for seniors 62 and over, and $7.50 for children ages 611, cover admission to Civil War Weekend. The Park is open from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 24
and 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 25. All activities associated with the two-day event will take place at
the Park’s Hart Farm, located on Duncan Road. Event admission also allows participants to visit Pamplin
Historical Park’s four museums, three antebellum homes and the Civil War battlefield of the
“Breakthrough” of April 2, 1865.
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One of “Virginia’s Best Places to Visit” according to the Travel Channel, and recently designated as a
National Historic Landmark, Pamplin Historical Park & The Museum of the Civil War Soldier is a 422acre Civil War campus located in Dinwiddie County, Virginia offering a combination of high-tech
museums and hands-on experiences. The Park has four world-class museums, three antebellum homes
and costumed living history every day. The Park is also the site of the Breakthrough Battlefield of April
2, 1865 and America’s newest participatory experience, Civil War Adventure Camp. For more
information, please call 804-861-2408 or visit www.pamplinpark.org.