ECW Weekender: Barnes & Noble in Fredericksburg brings Civil War books to life

History books come to life at Barnes & Noble in Fredericksburg, Virginia, this Saturday.

The bookstore, located in Central Park, Fredericksburg, is hosting a Civil War Living History Event on Saturday, July 25 from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. ECW’s Chris Mackowski and novelist Eileen Kerns Goodman will be on hand to sign copies of their books as part of day-long series of educational programs.

“The event is free,” explains Cheryl Schneider, Community Business Development Manager for Barnes & Noble, “and it offers the opportunity for all ages to learn about how people lived during the time period.”

The event features the 8th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Inc., a Civil War living history organization. The 8th VA will offer soldiers’ displays, parlor games, music, children’s toys, and clothing demonstrations. There will also be a program focusing on the Ladies’ Aid Society and performances by “The Civil War Dance Ensemble of Spotsylvania Country.” Two local Civil War authors will also be on hand for book signings.

Lt. Scott Sturdivant, a musician with the 8th VA, will perform period songs on his guitar.

Frances Allshouse, “The Layered lady,” will offer a clothing demonstration, circa 1863. Demonstrations will be performed at 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30. Allshouse will be available to talk to between performances.

At noon and 3:00 p.m., The Civil War Dance Ensemble of Spotsylvania Country will perform.

Miss Tammy Sawyer will oversee the chance for visitors to play parlor games and period toys. A demonstration by the 8th VA’s Ladies’ Aid Society will explain the care given to wounded soldiers.

Two local authors will also be featured as part of the event.

Novelist Eileen Kerns Goodman was born and raised in Winchester, Virginia. For more than thirty years, she has been an educator both in and out the classroom, teaching music and preschool; she is presently a reading resource paraeducator. During this time, she has also been a living historian; she has been filmed in mini-series, local television programs, and documentaries. She also served as a local historical tour guide and a dance mistress for the University of Mary Washington’s Civil War Balls. Goodman has written scripts, musicals, and books to use in the classroom as well as a script for a local television show. Eileen lives in Fredericksburg and works for Spotsylvania County Schools.

Storm Over Fauquier, a work of historical fiction, is her debut novel. Described as “a gripping novel based on real events and historical figures,” the novel shows the frailties as well as the strengths of people from all walks of life in the midst of America’s deadly Civil War.

Historian Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., is the editor-in-chief of Emerging Civil War and managing editor of the Emerging Civil War Series. He is a professor of journalism and mass communication at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, NY, and historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge, a historic property on the Spotsylvania battlefield. He has also worked as a historian for the National Park Service at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, where he gives tours at four major Civil War battlefields (Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania), as well as at the building where Stonewall Jackson died. Mackowski serves on the national advisory board for the Civil War Chaplains Museum in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Mackowski is the author of eleven Civil War books. Barnes & Noble is featuring his recent book Fight Like the Devil: The First Day at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863, released in May, along with his Fredericksburg-area books, That Furious Struggle: Chancellorsville and the High Tide of the Confederacy; Simply Murder: The Battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862; The Last Days of Stonewall Jackson: The Mortal Wounding of the Confederacy’s Greatest Icon-and the Birth of Its Greatest Legend, and A Season of Slaughter: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, May 8-21, 1864. Copies will also be available of Strike Them a Blow: Battle Along the North Anna River and his newly released Grant’s Last Battle: The Story Behind the Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant.

Drawings will be held for a Victorian gift basket, a Victorian toy drawing, a Civil War pen, and a Barnes & Noble gift card.