Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860's Conference

[Jefferson Guards]

Did anyone attend the Conference and what did you think of it and the presentations?

[7thNYcav]

Re: Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860's Conference

I thought the conference was outstanding and well wourth attending. I learned so much from it.

[Amtmann]

Re: Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860's Conference

I enjoyed Jon Isaacson, Nicky & Susan Hughes, and Tim Bender's talks.

(I wasn't too impressed with the entertainment that night though.)

[Anna Allen]

Re: Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860's Conference

I went for the first time and really had a wonderful time! I learned a lot and met some great people. Although it is quite far away from me (took about 17 hours of driving) I really want to go back again next year. I think I'll probably take the train next time, though. ;) I put a few pictures up on my website if you care to take a look:

Conference pictures

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860's Conference

The conference was very well put together. Three cheers for Carolann Schmidt with assistance from The Citizens Companion! The presentations were some of the best I've ever heard. Susan knows how I feel about people who reenact the Civil War period, yet know nothing about what happened before April 1861 and nothing besides how to drill, who drilled, and what uniforms existed in what time period. I did the body servant thing for a CS officer folks, so been out in the military (albeit unarmed). Great talk! The nicknamed "Stuff" talk, though more formally called "Make Yourself At Home" by Nicky Hughes was a nice overview of what people would have had in their house, so there is little need to fret now about how to transport your CW goods to and from events. There were other great talks that I enjoyed including Maggie Burke's on transportation.

The dinner was delightful (though I wasn't much impressed with the carelessness of sloshing gravy around when we all looked so nice!) and the Free and Accepted Minstrels of New Orleans get three cheers from me. Hey, I portray a slave so I'm not likely to be offended by three people doing blackface. I found it amusing and the music was great. If people want to be 19th century in character, you must be exposed to things that people KNEW about in that era. May not be "P.C." but I certainly don't portray a domestic servant (enslaved) to please the "politically correct." I portray what was politically correct (at least in the slave-owning states). Again, a congrats to the minstrels.

It was great to see so many old friends and meet new ones, I'm already excited about 2005. I hope that in 2006 I will deliver a talk about the very misunderstood, yet highly important, institution of (bum, bum, bum) SLAVERY. Be on the lookout. :-)