Civil War Sesquicentennial events planned in Ala.
Activities planned for the Civil War Sesquicentennial in Alabama:
TOURISM: At the Alabama Tourism Department, Director Lee Sentell's staff is running ads that promote both Civil War and civil rights history. The department is working on new brochures of historical landmarks and battle sites, Civil War re-enactments and the Capitol, where the Confederate States were organized. At Fort Morgan, which guarded Mobile Bay during the Civil War, the Alabama Historical Commission is preparing new restrooms and concessions and making plans for re-enactors to appear and candlelight tours. Commission Director Frank White expects increased tourism at Confederate Memorial Park, Gen. Joe Wheeler's home, and other Civil War sites.
THEATER: The Alabama Shakespeare Festival has commissioned two plays about the start of the Civil War in Montgomery in 1861. One is being written by a white Southern female and the other by a black Northern male. The plays will be produced in 2011.
ART: The Birmingham Museum of Art will display Civil War-related artists in 2011, including Nicola Marshall, portraitist and designer of the first Confederate flag, and Gilbert Gaul, who depicted experiences of both Union and Confederate soldiers from fierce battles to quiet momenmts in camp.
HISTORY: The state Department of Archives and History in Montgomery plans to focus on three periods that shaped Alabama — the 200th anniversary of the Creek War, the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, and 50th anniversary of major civil rights events.
SOUVENIRS: The state Tourism Department is preparing a souvenir statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and a model of the state Capitol as it looked in 1861, with the clock atop stopped at 1 p.m. — the moment Davis was sworn into office.
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