Community Corner

Jefferson Barracks Joins St. Louis in Gearing Up For Civil War Anniversary

An announcement Monday noted the anniversary will entertain, but should spark thoughts of history.

Jefferson Barracks is leading the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in Missouri with a historical battle reenactment, starting in April. 

Upcoming St. Louis events that will commemorate the Civil War should both entertain and give people pause, Bob Archibald, the president of the Missouri History Museum said Monday. 

"I think there's a big tension in how we understand this war," Archibald said. Class divisions remain in the U.S. in part because people haven't come to grips with the war. By the late 1870s, Americans had tired of the slavery issue and Jim Crow laws kept freedmen in circumstances that were not much better than they had been during slavery, he said.

He spoke following a news conference at which organizers announced the launch of a new website, freedomsgateway.com, which will allow people to find out when commemorative events are happening throughout the region. The announcement took place at the museum, located just east of Clayton in Forest Park. 

The kickoff event  will run April 29 to May 1 and feature a recreation of 1861 St. Louis and the Camp Jackson Affair. The Camp Jackson Affair was the entry point for Missouri in the Civil War, when Union soldiers clashed with civilians in the streets. Over the weekend, more than 200 reenactors will depict a camp of soldiers with a battle and artifacts from the era. 

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President Kitty Ratcliffe of the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission said the Jefferson Barracks reenactment should serve as an interesting event that's also educational. 

"We've forgotten," Ratcliffe said, describing how soldiers had to sleep on the ground in tents. "We take so much for granted." 

Her office will continue to reach out to cities throughout St. Louis metro area to get its events placed on the new website. There's still plenty of time for them to develop their own commemorations in the coming years. 

Clayton will also host an event from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Hanley House. Male reenactors will perform military drills outside, while reenactments will also be inside showing how Civil War-era women supported the troops. More information about the event is available on the city's website.

"You actually get to see living history at the Hanley House," said Sarah Umlauf, the city's community resource coordinator. She donned a hoop skirt and other period attire for Monday's announcement. 

Umlauf said the convention and visitors commission and the museum reached out to Clayton to get involved in the new website. The city recognizes the importance of cross-promoting events throughout the region. Because Missouri was a divided state during the war, it's possible for visitors to learn about the Confederate perspective, as at the Hanley House, and the Union perspective. 

Archibald said it made sense to locate an upcoming Civil War exhibit in St. Louis. Organizers had considered putting it in another Missouri city such as Springfield, but thought some people in those locations might not like the exhibit's conclusions about the war.

"It was about slavery," Archibald said.

 

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Check out these upcoming Civil War events at Jefferson Barracks:

Camp Jackson Affair

 Opening TBA


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