How was life during Civil War?
By W. WINSTON SKINNER
winston@newnan.com
Coweta County residents will have the opportunity to get a feel for what life was like for soldiers in Civil War days this Saturday.
A Civil War Encampment will be staged Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the historic Atlanta and West Point Railroad Depot. The depot is located in downtown Newnan between East Broad and East Washington streets, and is a spot where Union and Confederate troops clashed in July 1864.
NCHS is sponsoring the event. Visitors will have the opportunity to “encounter living historians, participate in 1860s crafts and learn about the year 1863,” Arrieta said.
Tickets for the event are $5. NCHS members will be admitted free.
Later in the day, there will be a lecture on a Civil War topic. Dr. Gordon Jones will present “Lincoln and Liberty” at 7 p.m. at Wadsworth Auditorium in the Municipal Building on Jefferson Street.
Jones “will explore Lincoln’s evolving ideology of freedom, the Emancipation Proclamation and other facets of Abraham Lincoln’s life,” Arrieta said.
Jones, senior military historian at the Atlanta History Center, has visited Newnan before. His November 2010 lecture on life in Georgia in 1861 was the kickoff event for Coweta County’s observance of the 175th anniversary of the Civil War.
Jones received his doctorate from Emory University.
Tickets for the lecture are $5 for adults and free for students. Students are encouraged to reserve their tickets in advance.
Advance ticket purchases and reservations may be made by calling the Male Academy Museum at 770-251-0207.
