Pulitzer-winning playwright Paula Vogel’s newest play, A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration set in and around Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve 1864, brings together the Lincolns, soldiers, runaway slaves, and others in a celebration of hope amidst devastation. Here, in a September 2008 interview with Long Wharf Theatre’s dramaturg April Donahower, Vogel discusses joy and tragedy, the public and private, and why it’s imperative that we acknowledge our history.

AD: This play is a departure of sorts for you [in that it’s written for a family audience]. What has led you in this direction? PV: I am always trying to get to a point where I’m sharing something with the community . . . something painful. And the reason I do that isn’t to hurt people or to dwell in the hurt; it’s to get past it. It’s to resolve it. It’s to change it.

The alchemy of an audience, with issues that hurt us . . . there’s an alchemy that happens and I think we can turn it to gold. And if that gold is hope, if that goal is action, if that goal is leaving the theatre and feeling as if the person sitting next to me in seat D4 is actually now a neighbor, that’s a huge step forward for me.

The word “family values” has been used so often, but I don’t see why we’re not saying “community values” because it seems to me every family is the community. Out of that — which I think has been in other plays — this thing came to me.

In the past 20 years, I’ve had children (some of them now are wonderful grown men) say to me, “Aunt Paula,” or “Godmother, when do I get to see one of your plays?” Usually this is a conversation that’s taking place over Christmastime. And I say, “When you’re 30 years old and you can go and talk to a therapist or talk to me afterwards, but you can’t come see my plays until you’ve reached the age of adulthood.” And it’s always been kind of a family joke.

But if I’m talking about family values, I should write something that I can say to my family “Guys I wanted to give this to you when you were five and I know now But if I’m talking about family values, I should write something that I can say to my family, “Guys, I wanted to give this to you when you were five and I know now you’re 27,” or “Rebecca, you know, you’re six years old, and, you know, I just want you to know this and talk about it with you.” So I wrote [A Civil War Christmas] for my family. This is my Christmas gift. My Hanukah/Christmas — we’re very diverse — Kwanzaa gift to the family. AD: I love your portrait of the Lincolns. We get both the family and the bigger picture. PV: The Lincolns are our ghosts. We have many, many ghosts from the Civil War, and we have ghosts that we may not even name or know of the men and women who served. There are a lot of ghosts in this play. We have ancestors in the room at Christmas, or at Hanukah when we light those lights. We are thanking the ones that went before us, around our hearth. That, too, is a way that we examine who we are as Americans.

I’ve always thought that theatre is a form of patriotism for every one of us involved, including the audience. It’s a form of patriotism and service to the community to come together, to support the arts and culture, and to make sure that children have access to it so that it’s something that we enjoy and participate in for a lifespan. This, too, is serving our country. It’s a time for us to look at who we are. And in order to look at who we are, we have to recognize who we were. AD: Can you talk about the collision of resurrecting the ghosts of the past with our desire to mythologize the past and put it in a safe place? PV: We tend to tell the story of the Civil War as Grant and Lee and a certain part of Abraham Lincoln, but we’re not talking about merchants and women who were left behind and kept businesses, households, and boarding houses going. We don’t think about the role of children in the Civil War. And we have mis-remembered how active African Americans were in turning the tide of national battle. The monuments, when they were erected, were often torn down. There’s a certain point where we wanted to remember the embrace of Confederate and Union white soldiers without acknowledging African Americans.

We forget. We forget things that I knew in childhood, but never looked at. Our forgetting parts of the story is a perpetual disenfranchising of citizens living in our country. We forget as Maryland school children that our State Anthem is actually the anthem of a slave state that talks about Northern scum. There are remnants everywhere of this battle that still haven’t been resolved.

I wanted to know what it was like to be fighting in a war and trying to have a Seder. Or trying to light lights when you’re in the field. What was that like? I wanted to find one Native American who was there on this Christmas Eve. So that the children in the family who can trace back that heritage can point and say, “OK, we were there.” AD: How did the characters emerge out of your research? PV: They came first and the research came second. I just found them. We have to tell the story and the story has to be alive and active over the historical truth. There are times now wherein I forget if I made something up or if it actually happened because the characters feel so real to me. I just know them.

The question isn’t “What is historically true?” It’s “What can we believe?” When

The question isn’t “What is historically true?” It’s “What can we believe?” When we walk through the lobby at the end of the evening, do we believe something different about ourselves? I’m sure that there are historians that are going to come in and they’re going to just think, “Oh, Clara Barton wasn’t in Washington.” And they’re absolutely right. I’m apologizing ahead of time. AD: It’s a quest for a truth other than historical accuracy. PV: I think as a country we have to acknowledge what happened in the Civil War and I think we have to acknowledge the role of slavery in the Civil War. Now it’s 2008. We need to bring it into the open and say it. This is part of our country’s past and history. How can we have a conversation about the country we radically need to shape if we don’t have that moment of acknowledgement? AD: As hurtful as it may be. PV: I think it’s healing. I believe it’s healing.

Daryl Waters’ contribution to A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration is integral: he has set Paula Vogel’s script to virtually continuous musical scoring from beginning to end. Waters discusses his role in the process, his music, and his inspiration as a composer.

Let's start at the beginning: what exactly does “musical supervision” entail? My job is part creative and part administrative. Creatively, I'm responsible for the vocal arrangements (vocal harmonies and interpretation of the songs) and the incidental music arrangements (the music under dialogue and between scenes that helps to support the dramatic moment). Those jobs are often handled by two separate people.

Andrew Resnick our fantastic music director has the main responsibilities of

Andrew Resnick, our fantastic music director, has the main responsibilities of rehearsing the cast and playing/conducting the show. So much of this piece has been about storytelling. How does the music — vocal and instrumental — serve that function? I've loved working with Paula. Her pictures, words, and intents are so clear that the music has virtually written itself. There are certain characters that have their own motif, like Abraham Lincoln. The motifs have been used in the underscored moments to add another emotional layer to a scene, sometimes subtle, sometimes not.

The vocal arrangements also have to reflect the moment; sometimes simply by the choice to add harmony or just have everyone sing the melody. Talk a little about the different kinds of music in the piece — the Civil War songs, the Christmas music, and the spirituals — and what it's like to weave them together. And how much does your own contemporary sensibility infuse the sound? I think of the songs in this show as a musical quilt; snippets that when woven together create an aesthetically pleasing, one-of-a-kind piece.

The decision was made from the beginning to look at the music from a contemporary point of view, which interested me far more than re-creating period music. The key was to do it in a way that was not disrespectful to the material. Hopefully you'll think I succeeded. In her introduction to A Civil War Christmas, Paula Vogel says that her inspiration for the play comes, in part, from "subliminally processing music:” “As a schoolgirl in Maryland," she writes, "I was taught the lyrics to...'Maryland, My Maryland,' sung to the tune of ‘O Tannenbaum.’" Do you have any musical "processing" memories of your own, either regarding this music or any other? In a sense, my own musical style is an amalgam of processed memories, whether it's listening to the Percy Faith Orchestra on my grandmother's radio, playing in my own R & B band in high school, or playing/arranging for people like Cab Calloway and Sammy Davis, Jr. I would not be who I am without those memories and many more.

This piece was excerpted from an interview originally conducted by assistant director Katie McGerr for Long Wharf’s 2008 production of A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration.

I usually read something that I write on the first day. I like to do it for a few reasons. One is to share some of my thoughts in the time I have been living with the play, what I see as our map of where we are going, and to give as at least a starting place for our work together.

Another, more important reason is to celebrate the gathering together of people in a room and launch a new journey, because one is never exactly like another. We are starting a journey, following a star, in celebration of our own, multi- denominational nativity.

The story of the nativity—why, I wonder, do we as human beings love to hear the same story told over and over? With all our natural love of plot and suspense, we gather in homes and places of worship, and theaters, to hear again and again of the nutcracker, or of Scrooge and the spirits, or the birth of a child in a stable.

Why do we tell and retell? We know it brings us together in one listening body—we put our arms around each other and listen, and watch each other listening, and follow the familiar road to redemption once again. No matter how jaded, we wait for the moment of transformation—of grace—when Scrooge awakes:

Yes! and the bedpost was his own. The bed was his own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!

And so, Christmas present leads to Christmas future. But our concern at the moment is Christmas past.

As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past."

This was quoted by Barack Obama during the campaign in his major speech on race in America. He continued,

We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African- American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.

When we first met to discuss this beautiful play, Paula said to me: “We as a people ripped asunder our basic civility to each other under the name of slavery.” And this story of a nation in transformation—a nation emerging from slavery—half imagined, half true, is told partly in honor of all the stories that are erased from history by the hand of the historians, all the stories hidden from us by prejudice. And we are hungry to hear it—but we are perhaps not the only ones listening—as this small story suggests.

The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment saw extensive federal service in the Union Army during the Civil War. It was one of the first official black units in the United States Armed Forces.

And the 54th Massachusetts was reactivated in 2008 to serve as the Massachusetts National Guard ceremonial unit. This new unit sent representatives to march in the inaugural parade. Here one member talks about that moment:

By the time we got orders to march, the sun was setting and it was getting dark. But that did not matter. It is surprising how warm you get when it feels like you’re taking your first steps. Passing in review of President Obama will be a lifetime memory but that will not be my only memory. Along the parade route, there were no massive crowds. Many people had gone home. Yet those empty spaces were still occupied; they were occupied by our past, present and future and all those who could not be there that day. These steps were those of my family, ancestors and those I never knew. All I am doing is continuing the walk.

I think we tell and retell stories so that by telling them, the ancestors lie quiet for a time. The ancestors who line the road to watch us walk our paths. And they come back at ritual moments, like Christmas—when we tell each other these stories of Grace and blessing.

There is often an unexpected blessing in these great stories of transformation. The nativity is a story of great change, even in the book of its original context. It marks the moment where “vengance is mine sayeth the lord” becomes “turn the other cheek.”

And in a good story, often the change happens in a single moment. Grace intrudes and something shifts. I give an address like this one at the start of rehearsal out of care for a certain moment. This very first moment of rehearsal, when the whole force of the theater is gathered together and our voices have not yet spoken the text, this moment is one that once wasted, you never get back. So I speak to and within that moment in honor of its transformational power.

And it is the breathlessness of transformation in a single moment that we are after. All of the forces can be pushing towards a known conclusion, and then the grace of one single moment makes things turn . . . we know this well. In the story we hold in our hands, Decatur Bronson has every reason to kill the boy he has arrested—his vow, his rage, his grief—and he is absolutely capable of doing it. And yet—at the last, within that single moment—he has the major revelation of his life. I am about to kill a boy on Christmas eve. And the story changes. The unlikely trio of wise men, in Bronson, Chester and Raz, enter our nativity.

And it is in a moment, when Elizabeth Keckley puts down her memories and her sewing, her heart of stone melts and she goes back out into the cold. She lets go of the past and stands in the midst of the present moment and is able to look around the cold streets until she finds the form of a child sleeping in the straw. And with that moment of grace, she joins our nativity, and holy mother and holy child are reunited.

In one moment of compassion, turning back to talk to a child who seems lost, Lincoln escapes the assassin’s bullet this Christmas, and is able to embrace his Lincoln escapes the assassin’s bullet this Christmas, and is able to embrace his wife, and celebrate, even without the Christmas tree

That Christmas tree. The moments of this story happen between the Christmas tree and the coffin. In the middle of a land littered with the plain pine boxes carried from the battlefield, there appears this other ritual object, pine in a different form— a Christmas tree?—what could be more frivolous in a way, more meaningless in the midst of such carnage? How do we celebrate in the midst of devastation? How do we dare, looking around us at the world?

In the image of the Christmas tree itself is one answer—the tree that our characters chase around the dirty freezing streets this Christmas. The tree itself is a small, domestic celebration of the possibility of grace interrupting even the most terrible moment. In each home, despite the devastation, a humble, homemade pageant is made manifest. And here, in our own small nativity, the reclaimed child puts the star atop it, just this one night, just this one moment. It urges us to be brave enough to celebrate. How can we celebrate amid the coffins? The question is, how can we not?

And, as with great plays, the very form of A Civil War Christmas, our very physical, theatrical project, enables us to stand close to the miracle of such celebration.

The story is told by a community directly to the audience. Each word of narration a miraculous opportunity—we acknowledge that we are all here listening and witnessing together, that we are hungry for the stories of transformation. We can take the audience anywhere, just by telling them where we are going. We have a beautiful space, but the real drama is the vividness and intimacy with which the storytellers take us from the frozen river to the sparkling ballrooms and back and forth again.

The story is told through the fantastic music and song—originally written by forgotten hands, sung by so many voices before us. Songs to urge bravery, to forgotten hands, sung by so many voices before us. Songs to urge bravery, to celebrate, to remember, to honor the struggle. Such music changes us for good.

The story is about transformation, and we underline that by transforming ourselves, almost every moment—into men, women, different people, horses, mules, merchants, soldiers, figures in a dream and more—the play shows with virtuosity how many twists and turns are possible with very little. What can we do with a scarf, a hat, a song? How many places can we take you, how fast, with what unexpected twists? You never know what will happen, when endless transformation is possible! We are breathless in the hands of such a story!

And the story is told in a beautiful theater. A gorgeous space to house the active mural we paint with bodies, sound, song, words. The grandeur and simplicity of the space and our set makes it a canvas for this mural of a newly imagined nativity and by creating the details of this large canvas, we will see all the hidden stories, all the little moments of grace that make change possible. That’s why we are here.

I'll close this with Walt Whitman, who else, writing on the brink of transformation in the land that is sick, but just a springtime away from being restored, when peace was near at hand, but not yet at hand:

Over the carnage rose prophetic a voice, Be not dishearten'd, affection shall solve the problems of freedom yet, Those who love each other shall become invincible, They shall yet make Columbia victorious.

One from Massachusetts shall be a Missourian's comrade, From Maine and from hot Carolina, and another an Oregonese, shall be friends triune, More precious to each other than all the riches of the earth.

To Michigan, Florida perfumes shall tenderly come, Not the perfumes of flowers, but sweeter, and waited beyond death.

It shall be customary in the houses and streets to see manly affection, The most dauntless and rude shall touch face to face lightly, The dependence of Liberty shall be lovers, The continuance of Equality shall be comrades.

These shall tie you and band you stronger than hoops of iron, I, ecstatic, O partners! O lands! with the love of lovers tie you.

(Were you looking to be held together by lawyers? Or by an agreement on a paper? or by arms? Nay, nor the world, nor any living thing, will so cohere.)

How can we celebrate? How can we not! And so, welcome to the moment we begin.

"Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history." — Plato, Ion

The poetry of the Civil War captures the conflicted experiences of a divided nation like no other written account can. The vitality of sound and space that a well-constructed poem evokes transports the reader directly to a specific battlefield or war-torn home, allowing even the modern reader to experience the war from a personal perspective. These poems stand in memoriam of the thousands of would-be silent stories and common experiences of all those affected by war. Further, they connect the desolate photographs and drawing of the divided nation to the personal desolate photographs and drawing of the divided nation to the personal experiences of the soldiers, officers, and their families. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Clara Barton and Walt Whitman all make appearances in A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration. Their unique, personal perspectives on the situation deepen our understandings of the Civil War because they represent several groups of people that we don’t always consider in our study of history. Barton and Whitman performed influential duties both on the field and off, volunteering their time to consol the injured and nurse the sick. Longfellow spent the early part of the 1860s in a state of great confusion as he reflected on national disunity and personal grief. All three of these individuals left behind poems that capture the conflicting feelings of hope/despair and isolation/unity that characterize a war-torn nation. Their poems allude to disturbance of peace and stability as hundreds of thousands of soldiers struggle for a liberated nation. Though Henry Wadsworth Longfellow sought liberation for all people, he was troubled by the Civil War’s destructive influence on the country. The 1860s proved to be a particularly stressful period of time for the poet, not only because of the divided nation, but also because Longfellow suffered a series of personal tragedies during the decade. In 1861, Longfellow lost his beloved wife, Frances “Fanny” Appleton to a fire. The following year, his oldest son, Charles, became a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac, despite his father’s reservations that he join up. In 1863, Charles was severely wounded by a bullet that passed under his shoulder blades, removing one of his spinal processes. Longfellow diligently kept a journal through this period that reflects a deep sense of grief and torment, particularly around the holidays. On his first Christmas without Fanny, Longfellow wrote, “How inexpressibly sad are all holidays.”

He was still grieving the following Christmas when he wrote, “A merry Christmas say the children, but that is no more for me.” On Christmas Day 1864, Longfellow say the children, but that is no more for me.” On Christmas Day 1864, Longfellow composed the seven-stanza poem “Christmas Bells” to reflect the mixture of grief over his family, the state of the country, and the importance of God in his life: I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old familiar carols play, And wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men! And thought how, as the day had come, The belfries of all Christendom Had rolled along The unbroken song Of peace on earth, good-will to men! Till, ringing, singing on its way, The world revolved from night to day, A voice, a chime A chant sublime Of peace on earth, good-will to men! Then from each black accursed mouth The cannon thundered in the South, And with the sound The carols drowned Of peace on earth, good-will to men! It was as if an earthquake rent The hearth-stones of a continent, And made forlorn The households born Of peace on earth, good-will to men! And in despair I bowed my head; “There is no peace on earth,” I said; “For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!” Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead; nor doth he sleep! The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men!” This poem later provided the lyrics to the popular Christmas hymn “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” though the stanzas that reference the war directly are omitted in the hymn.

Clara Barton preferred to work on her own in the fields despite Clara Barton preferred to work on her own in the fields despite resistance from the government-sanctioned health organizations. She founded hospitals and care centers, brought small gifts and words of comfort to the soldiers, and proved that women could do more than sit at home and mourn during this time of conflict. After all of her experiences (including the identification of over 20,000 bodies at the end of the war), Barton composed a poem in honor of all the women who helped on the front lines. Here is an excerpt from “The Women Who Went to the Field”: The women who went to the field, you say, The women who went to the field; and pray, What did they go for? — just to be in the way? — They’d not know the difference betwixt work and play,

— Noelle Goodman-Morris

“We must have the faith that things will work out somehow, that God will make a way for us when there seems no way.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

Soldiers, officers, and chaplains often improvised around the holidays to recreate traditions and remember loved ones. They did their best to organize Christmas or Passover celebrations: “Holiday season charity was not forgotten this year,” wrote one Michigan soldier. On Christmas Day 1864, 90 Michigan men and their captain loaded up wagons with food and supplies and distributed them to destitute civilians in the Georgia countryside. The Union “Santa Clauses” tied tree branches to the heads of the mule teams to resemble reindeer. While lying there, our camp duties were not of an arduous character, and being apprised of the approaching Feast of Passover, twenty of my comrades and co—religionists belonging to the Regiment, united in a request to our commanding officer for relief from duty, in order that we might keep the holydays which he readily acceded to and as the united in a request to our commanding officer for relief from duty, in order that we might keep the holydays, which he readily acceded to . . . and, as the Paymaster had lately visited the Regiment, he had left us plenty of greenbacks.

Our next business was to find some suitable person to proceed to Cincinnati, Ohio, to buy us Matzos . . . a supply train arrived in camp, and to our delight seven barrels of Matzos. On opening them, we were surprised and pleased to find that our thoughtful sutler had enclosed two Hagedahs and prayer—books. . . . We obtained two kegs of cider, a lamb, several chickens and some eggs. Horesradish or parsley we could not obtain, but in lieu we found a weed. . . .

We had the lamb, but did not know what part was to represent it at the table; but Yankee ingenuity prevailed, and it was decided to cook the whole and put it on the table, then we could dine off it, and be sure we had the right part. The necessaries for the charoseth we could not obtain, so we got a brick which, rather hard to digest, reminded us, by looking at it, for what purpose it was intended.

At dark we had all prepared, and were ready to commence the service. There being no rabbi present, I was selected to read the services, which I commenced by asking the blessing of the Almighty on the food before us, and to preserve our lives from danger. . . .

There, in the wild woods of West Virginia, away from home and friends, we consecrated and offered up to the ever—loving God of Israel our prayers and sacrifice. I doubt whether the spirits of our forefathers, had they been looking down on us, standing there with our arms by our side ready for an attack, faithful to our God and our cause, would have imagined themselves amongst mortals, enacting this commemoration of the scene that transpired in Egypt.” — J.A. Joel, from a Union Camp in 1861 We see similar scenes in A Civil War Christmas, when “real” coffee becomes a Christmas treat, or when a Christmas tree is the most special gift that a matron can give her children or a wife can give her husband. In the face of destruction, the little remembrances of holiday traditions are enough to remind the faithful of the trials and tribulations of those who came before them. Small actions allow all to remember that love, peace, and family are precious treasures, not to be taken for granted. In an unexpected way, the difficulty of war allowed many people to understand the holiday season from a new perspective one in which humility and thanksgiving became essential, making the time of year a particularly crucial component of American identity. As one historian said, “The Civil War made Christmas a truly American holiday in a way it had never entirely been before.”

Adjusting Expectations

Adjusting Expectations Remaining upbeat around the holidays became increasingly difficult both on the field and at home as supplies became sparse and the death toll rose: This day, one year ago, how many thousand families, gay and joyous, celebrating Merry Christmas, drinking health to absent members of their family, and sending upon the wings of love and affection long deep, and sincere wishes for their safe return to the loving ones at home, but today are clad in the deepest mourning in memory to some lost and loved member of their circle. — Tally Simpson, in a letter to his sister from Fredericksberg, 1862 Santa Claus may not make it through the blockade to deliver presents this year. . . — A common lamentation of Southern parents in 1862 We had many a drunken fight and knock—down before the day closed. — An Officer of the 20th Tennessee, after providing the soldiers with a barrel of whiskey to celebrate the night, 1862 The men gathered about the camp fires during the evening hours with abortive attempts at merriment, soon to be given up, and then to talk in whispers of friends and family and home. The bugle calls, holding out the promise that balmy sleep might be forgetfulness, were welcomed; although tattoo seemed a wail, and lights—out a sob. — The 19th Ohio Colonel, 1862 The one worn-out railroad running to the far South could not bring us half enough necessary supplies: and even if it could have transported Christmas boxes of good things, the people at home were too depleted to send them. — Confederate General Gordon, writing from headquarters near Petersburg, 1863 Faith in the Face of Destruction Soldiers, politicians, preachers, doctors, and families turned to faith as they struggled to cope with the destruction and grief caused by the Civil War. Letters to loved ones frequently contain a “God willing,” or an “I pray to God,” and references to faith and God appear in both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis’ public speeches. Often, the church and government borrowed language from one another to instill a sense of nationalism rooted in spirituality among citizens in both Northern and Southern territories. The faithful did not lose hope: “We’ll fight for liberty Till de Lord shall call us home We’ll soon be free Till de Lord shall call us home” — Reported by Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a Massachusetts officer who organized the freed slaves into one of the black regiments, recorded in his diary the simple, hopeful hymn his men had sung at Christmas 1862 in his camp I believe and I shall try to show that all through these last years and diary the simple, hopeful hymn his men had sung at Christmas 1862 in his camp . . . I believe, and I shall try to show, that all through these last years, and especially through this last year, there has been a great drawing back of all of us to resume and fully occupy realms of life, blessings and duties which ere never but half-occupied before. . . . We ought to render up our thanks for the new power and completeness with which the ordinary blessings of God’s natural providence have been received and realized, in consequence of the peculiar circumstances under which we have been living. . . More than fourscore years ago this nation declared itself free and independent —the new ground of a new experiment in national, social, and individual life. It needs no very wise historian to tell how very partially that bright announcement has been fulfilled. We have never half claimed our independence. — Reverend Phillips Brooks in his 1863 Thanksgiving Day Speech Services were often ecumenical, and some members of the clergy sought to promote common beliefs with members of other religions. For example, Rabbi Illowy’s sermon at Baltimore, January 1861 condones the National Fast Day: . . . it is neither new moon nor Sabbath, but it is a day designated by the Chief Magistrate of the United States, for the purpose of fasting, humiliation, and prayer. In compliance with his proclamation, we are assembled here to join our fellow citizens of the various denominations in keeping this day as a solemn fast; as a day devoted to religious exercise only. — Rabbi Illowy, National Fast Day Sermon, Baltimore, January 1861 Hannah, you wanted me to tell you the news in our camp and tent. The news in our tent is that we are trying to serve the Lord. We have prayer meetings in our tent twice a week and one of us reads a chapter, and pray every night before laying down to sleep . . . we take turns [leading]. I enjoy my[self] better here serving the Lord than I did at home. — James Gould of the New York 144th Infantry to his sister, 1862 I asked God for strength, that I might achieve, I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked him for health, that I might do great things, I was given infirmity, that I might do better things. I asked for riches, that I might be happy, I was given poverty, that I might be wise. I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men, I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life, I was given life, that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing that I asked for—but everything I had hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am, among all men, most richly blessed. — By an unknown soldier Molly, this is a beautiful Sunday morning, and I expect you are gone to church somewhere. You must not fail to attend church as often as you can. I have not heard a sermon in about four months. . . . I never wanted to hear preaching as bad in my life heard a sermon in about four months. . . . I never wanted to hear preaching as bad in my life. — William Stilwell in a letter to his wife, 1862 For the hope for peace is sweeter than peace itself. — Paula Vogel, A Civil War Christmas

“Tonight, sitting by a wounded soldier in Armory Square, I was attracted by some pleasant singing in an adjoining ward ... The principal singer was a young lady-nurse of one of the wards, accompanying on a melodeon, and join’d by the lady-nurses of other wards. They sat there, making a charming group, with their handsome, healthy faces, and standing up a little behind them were some ten or fifteen of the convalescent soldiers, young men, nurses, with books in their hands, singing.” — Walt Whitman, Specimen Days

When soldiers went to the battlefront in the 1860s, they brought a startling number of instruments: banjos, fiddles, tin whistles, mandolins, and guitars. As Civil War historian Bell Irvin Wiley writes, “The men who wore the blue, and the butternut Rebs who opposed them, more than American fighters of any period, deserve to be called singing soldiers.” At the front, soldiers learned many new songs to supplement the traditional hymns, drinking songs, and Christmas carols they had known at home.

Songs written in the Civil War era often told the stories of major battles and historic events with newspaper-like immediacy. When Major General Sherman gave Savannah to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift, songwriter Henry Clay Work commemorated the campaign within months with “[While We Were] Marching Through Georgia.” Ballads like “Dixie” and “The Liberty Ball” spread ideology and fed nationalism on both sides. Drums created the rhythm of battle and the beat for a march; most units had an infantry band, leading General Robert E. Lee to claim, a march; most units had an infantry band, leading General Robert E. Lee to claim, “You cannot have an army without music.”

African-American spirituals also became a widespread musical tradition during the Civil War and the years that followed. As newly-freed or fugitive men and women made their way North, they carried with them songs they had learned orally on plantations. “Follow the Drinking Gourd” is believed to have begun as a way to memorize the map of the Underground Railroad.

While the history of many songs from the era is well documented, the original authors of many spirituals like “Children Go Where I Send Thee” and “Rise Up Shepherd and Follow” remain unknown. Soldiers and civilians alike greeted Christmas reluctantly during the war, reminded of the conflict’s bleak insanity. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow captured the sentiment, writing how “the cannon thundered in the South / and with the sound the carols drowned / of peace on earth, good will to men.”

But historian James McIvor shares a brighter anecdote in his book God Rest Ye Merry Soldiers; on Christmas Eve 1862 in Tennessee, Union and Confederate troops camped in close proximity near enough to hear each other’s bands. At first, they played nationalist songs back and forth, but when the Union army played the ballad “Home, Sweet Home,” the Confederates joined with them. All the men could ballad “Home, Sweet Home,” the Confederates joined with them. All the men could hear the other camp sing, and there was no attack that night. One of those soldiers, Samuel Seay, wrote, “And, after our bands had ceased playing, we could hear the sweet refrain as it died away on the cool frosty air.” —Charles Haugland

CHAPTER VII Washington In 1862-3

In the summer of 1862, freedmen began to flock into Washington from Maryland and Virginia. They came with a great hope in their hearts, and with all their worldly goods on their backs. Fresh from the bonds of slavery, fresh from the benighted regions of the plantation, they came to the Capital looking for liberty, and many of them not knowing it when they found it. Many good friends reached forth kind hands, but the North is not warm and impulsive. For one kind word spoken, two harsh ones were uttered; there was something repelling in the atmosphere, and the bright joyous dreams of freedom to the slave faded — were sadly altered, in the presence of that stern, practical mother, reality. Instead of flowery paths, days of perpetual sunshine, and bowers hanging with golden fruit, the road was rugged and full of sunshine, and bowers hanging with golden fruit, the road was rugged and full of thorns, the sunshine was eclipsed by shadows, and the mute appeals for help too often were answered by cold neglect. Poor dusky children of slavery, men and women of my own race — the transition from slavery to freedom was too sudden for you! The bright dreams were too rudely dispelled; you were not prepared for the new life that opened before you, and the great masses of the North learned to look upon your helplessness with indifference—learned to speak of you as an idle, dependent race. Reason should have prompted kinder thoughts. Charity is ever kind.

One fair summer evening I was walking the streets of Washington, accompanied by a friend, when a band of music was heard in the distance. We wondered what it could mean, and curiosity prompted us to find out its meaning. We quickened our steps, and discovered that it came from the house of Mrs. Farnham. The yard was brilliantly lighted, ladies and gentlemen were moving about, and the band was playing some of its sweetest airs. We approached the sentinel on duty at the gate, and asked what was going on. He told us that it was a festival given for the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiers in the city. This suggested an idea to me. If the white people can give festivals to raise funds for the relief of suffering soldiers, why should not the well-to-do colored people go to work to do something for the benefit of the suffering blacks? I could not rest. The thought was ever present with me, and the next Sunday I made a suggestion in the colored church, that a society of colored people be formed to labor for the benefit of the unfortunate freedmen. The idea proved popular, and in two weeks “the Contraband Relief Association” was organized, with forty working members.

In September of 1862, Mrs. Lincoln left Washington for New York, and requested me to follow her in a few days, and join her at the Metropolitan Hotel. I was glad of the opportunity to do so, for I thought that in New York I would be able to do something in the interests of our society. Armed with credentials, I took the train for New York, and went to the Metropolitan, where Mrs. Lincoln had secured accommodations for me. The next morning I told Mrs. Lincoln of my project; and she immediately headed my list with a subscription of $200. I circulated among the colored people, and got them thoroughly interested in the subject, when I was called to Boston by Mrs. Lincoln, who wished to visit her son Robert, attending college in that city. I met Mr. Wendell Phillips, and other Boston philanthropists, who gave me all the assistance in their power We held a mass meeting at the Colored Baptist that city. I met Mr. Wendell Phillips, and other Boston philanthropists, who gave me all the assistance in their power. We held a mass meeting at the Colored Baptist Church, Rev. Mr. Grimes, in Boston, raised a sum of money, and organized there a branch society. The society was organized by Mrs. Grimes, wife of the pastor, assisted by Mrs. Martin, wife of Rev. Stella Martin. This branch of the main society, during the war, was able to send us over eighty large boxes of goods, contributed exclusively by the colored people of Boston. Returning to New York, we held a successful meeting at the Shiloh Church, Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, pastor. The Metropolitan Hotel, at that time as now, employed colored help. I suggested the object of my mission to Robert Thompson, Steward of the Hotel, who immediately raised quite a sum of money among the dining-room waiters. Mr. Frederick Douglass contributed $200, besides lecturing for us. Other prominent colored men sent in liberal contributions. From England[B] a large quantity of stores was received. Mrs. Lincoln made frequent contributions, as also did the President. In 1863 I was re-elected President of the Association, which office I continue to hold. * * *

For two years after Willie’s death the White House was the scene of no fashionable display. The memory of the dead boy was duly respected. In some things Mrs. Lincoln was an altered woman. Sometimes, when in her room, with no one present but myself, the mere mention of Willie’s name would excite her emotion, and any trifling memento that recalled him would move her to tears. She could not bear to look upon his picture; and after his death she never crossed the threshold of the Guest’s Room in which he died, or the Green Room in which he was embalmed. There was something supernatural in her dread of these things, and something that she could not explain. Tad’s nature was the opposite of Willie’s, and he was always regarded as his father’s favorite child. His black eyes fairly sparkled with mischief.

* * *

The war progressed, fair fields had been stained with blood, thousands of brave men had fallen, and thousands of eyes were weeping for the fallen at home. There were desolate hearthstones in the South as well as in the North, and as the people of my race watched the sanguinary struggle, the ebb and flow of the tide of battle, they lifted their faces Zionward, as if they hoped to catch a glimpse of the Promised Land beyond the sulphureous clouds of smoke which shifted now and then but to reveal ghastly rows of new-made graves. Sometimes the very life of the nation seemed to tremble with the fierce shock of arms. In 1863 the Confederates were seemed to tremble with the fierce shock of arms. In 1863 the Confederates were flushed with victory, and sometimes it looked as if the proud flag of the Union, the glorious old Stars and Stripes, must yield half its nationality to the tri-barred flag that floated grandly over long columns of gray. These were sad, anxious days to Mr. Lincoln, and those who saw the man in privacy only could tell how much he suffered. One day he came into the room where I was fitting a dress on Mrs. Lincoln. His step was slow and heavy, and his face sad. Like a tired child he threw himself upon a sofa, and shaded his eyes with his hands. He was a complete picture of dejection. Mrs. Lincoln, observing his troubled look, asked:

“Where have you been, father?”

“To the War Department,” was the brief, almost sullen answer.

“Any news?”

“Yes, plenty of news, but no good news. It is dark, dark everywhere.”

He reached forth one of his long arms, and took a small Bible from a stand near the head of the sofa, opened the pages of the holy book, and soon was absorbed in reading them. A quarter of an hour passed, and on glancing at the sofa the face of the President seemed more cheerful. The dejected look was gone, and the countenance was lighted up with new resolution and hope. The change was so marked that I could not but wonder at it, and wonder led to the desire to know what book of the Bible afforded so much comfort to the reader. Making the search for a missing article an excuse, I walked gently around the sofa, and looking into the open book, I discovered that Mr. Lincoln was reading that divine comforter, Job. He read with Christian eagerness, and the courage and hope that he derived from the inspired pages made him a new man. I almost imagined that I could hear the Lord speaking to him from out the whirlwind of battle:

“Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.”

What a sublime picture was this! A ruler of a mighty nation going to the pages of the Bible with simple Christian earnestness for comfort and courage, and finding the Bible with simple Christian earnestness for comfort and courage, and finding both in the darkest hours of a nation’s calamity. Ponder it, O ye scoffers at God’s Holy Word, and then hang your heads for very shame!

Frequent letters were received warning Mr. Lincoln of assassination, but he never gave a second thought to the mysterious warnings. The letters, however, sorely troubled his wife. She seemed to read impending danger in every rustling leaf, in every whisper of the wind.

“Where are you going now, father?” she would say to him, as she observed him putting on his overshoes and shawl.

“I am going over to the War Department, mother, to try and learn some news.”

“But, father, you should not go out alone. You know you are surrounded with danger.”

“All imagination. What does any one want to harm me for? Don’t worry about me, mother, as if I were a little child, for no one is going to molest me;” and with a confident, unsuspecting air he would close the door behind him, descend the stairs, and pass out to his lonely walk.

For weeks, when trouble was anticipated, friends of the President would sleep in the White House to guard him from danger. Robert would come home every few months, bringing new joy to the family circle. He was very anxious to quit school and enter the army, but the move was sternly opposed by his mother.

“We have lost one son, and his loss is as much as I can bear, without being called upon to make another sacrifice,” she would say, when the subject was under discussion.

“But many a poor mother has given up all her sons,” mildly suggested Mr. Lincoln, “and our son is not more dear to us than the sons of other people are to their mothers.”

“That may be; but I cannot bear to have Robert exposed to danger. His services “That may be; but I cannot bear to have Robert exposed to danger. His services are not required in the field, and the sacrifice would be a needless one.”

“The services of every man who loves his country are required in this war. You should take a liberal instead of a selfish view of the question, mother.”

Argument at last prevailed, and permission was granted Robert to enter the army. With the rank of Captain and A. D. C. he went to the field, and remained in the army till the close of the war.

I well recollect a little incident that gave me a clearer insight into Robert’s character. He was at home at the time the Tom Thumb combination was at Washington. The marriage of little Hopo’-my-thumb—Charles Stratton—to Miss Warren created no little excitement in the world, and the people of Washington participated in the general curiosity. Some of Mrs. Lincoln’s friends made her believe that it was the duty of Mrs. Lincoln to show some attention to the remarkable dwarfs. Tom Thumb had been caressed by royalty in the Old World, and why should not the wife of the President of his native country smile upon him also? Verily, duty is one of the greatest bugbears in life. A hasty reception was arranged, and cards of invitation issued. I had dressed Mrs. Lincoln, and she was ready to go below and receive her guests, when Robert entered his mother’s room.

“You are at leisure this afternoon, are you not, Robert?”

“Yes, mother.”

“Of course, then, you will dress and come down-stairs.”

“No, mother, I do not propose to assist in entertaining Tom Thumb. My notions of duty, perhaps, are somewhat different from yours.”

Robert had a lofty soul, and he could not stoop to all of the follies and absurdities of the ephemeral current of fashionable life.

Mrs. Lincoln’s love for her husband sometimes prompted her to act very strangely. Mrs. Lincoln’s love for her husband sometimes prompted her to act very strangely. She was extremely jealous of him, and if a lady desired to court her displeasure, she could select no surer way to do it than to pay marked attention to the President. These little jealous freaks often were a source of perplexity to Mr. Lincoln. If it was a reception for which they were dressing, he would come into her room to conduct her downstairs, and while pulling on his gloves ask, with a merry twinkle in his eyes:

“Well, mother, who must I talk with to-night—shall it be Mrs. D.?”

“That deceitful woman! No, you shall not listen to her flattery.”

“Well, then, what do you say to Miss C.? She is too young and handsome to practise deceit.”

“Young and handsome, you call her! You should not judge beauty for me. No, she is in league with Mrs. D., and you shall not talk with her.”

“Well, mother, I must talk with some one. Is there any one that you do not object to?” trying to button his glove, with a mock expression of gravity.

“I don’t know as it is necessary that you should talk to anybody in particular. You know well enough, Mr. Lincoln, that I do not approve of your flirtations with silly women, just as if you were a beardless boy, fresh from school.”

“But, mother, I insist that I must talk with somebody. I can’t stand around like a simpleton, and say nothing. If you will not tell me who I may talk with, please tell me who I may not talk with.”

“There is Mrs. D. and Miss C. in particular. I detest them both. Mrs. B. also will come around you, but you need not listen to her flattery. These are the ones in particular.”

“Very well, mother; now that we have settled the question to your satisfaction, we will go down-stairs;” and always with stately dignity, he proffered his arm and led will go down-stairs;” and always with stately dignity, he proffered his arm and led the way.

[Footnote B: The Sheffield Anti-Slavery Society of England contributed through Mr. Frederick Douglass, to the Freedmen’s Relief Association, $24.00; Aberdeen Ladies’ Society, $40.00; Anti-Slavery Society of Edinburgh, Scotland, $48.00; Friends at Bristol, England, $176.00; Birmingham Negro’s Friend Society, $50.00. Also received through Mr. Charles R. Douglass, from the Birmingham Society, $33.00.]

A New York Soldier

This afternoon, July 22nd, I have spent a long time with Oscar F. Wilber, company G, 154th New York, low with chronic diarrhoea, and a bad wound also. He asked me to read him a chapter in the New Testament. I complied, and ask’d him what I should read. He said, “Make your own choice.” I open’d at the close of one of the first books of the evangelists, and read the chapters describing the latter hours of Christ, and the scenes at the crucifixion. The poor, wasted young man ask’d me to read the following chapter also, how Christ rose again. I read very slowly, for Oscar was feeble. It pleased him very much, yet the tears were in his eyes. He ask’d me if I enjoy’d religion. I said, “Perhaps not, my dear, in the way you mean, and yet, may-be, it is the same thing.” He said, “It is my chief reliance.” He talk’d of death, and said he did not fear it. I said, “Why, Oscar, don’t you think you will get well?” He said, “I may, but it is not probable.” He spoke calmly of his condition. The wound was very bad, it discharg’d much. Then the diarrhoea had condition. The wound was very bad, it discharg’d much. Then the diarrhoea had prostrated him, and I felt that he was even then the same as dying. He behaved very manly and affectionate. The kiss I gave him as I was about leaving he return’d fourfold. He gave me his mother’s address, Mrs. Sally D. Wilber, Alleghany pest- office, Cattaraugus county, N. Y. I had several such interviews with him. He died a few days after the one just described.

Home-Made Music

August 8th — To-night, as I was trying to keep cool, sitting by a wounded soldier in Armory-square, I was attracted by some pleasant singing in an adjoining ward. As my soldier was asleep, I left him,and entering the ward where the music was, I walk’d halfway down and took a seat by the cot of a young Brooklyn friend, S. R., badly wounded in the hand at Chancellorsville, and who has suffer’d much, but at that moment in the evening was wide awake and comparatively easy. He had turn’d over on his left side to get a better view of the singers, but the mosquito-curtains of the adjoining cots obstructed the sight. I stept round and loop’d them all up, so that he had a clear show, and then sat down again by him, and look’d and listen’d. The principal singer was a young lady-nurse of one of the wards, accompanying on a melodeon, and join’d by the lady-nurses of other wards. They sat there, making a charming group, with their handsome, healthy faces, and standing up a little behind them were some ten or fifteen of the convalescent soldiers, young men, nurses, &c., with books in their hands, singing. Of course it was not such a performance as the great soloists at the New York opera house take a hand in, yet I am not sure but I receiv’d as much pleasure under the circumstances, sitting there, as I have had from the best Italian compositions, express’d by world-famous performers. The men lying up and down the hospital, in their cots, (some badly wounded—some never to rise thence,) the cots themselves, with their drapery of white curtains, and the shadows down the lower and upper parts of the ward; then the silence of the men, and the attitudes they took—the whole was a sight to look around upon again and again. And there sweetly rose those voices up to the high, whitewash’d wooden roof, and pleasantly the roof sent it all back again. They sang very well, mostly quaint old songs and declamatory hymns, to fitting tunes. Here, for instance: songs and declamatory hymns, to fitting tunes. Here, for instance:

My days are swiftly gliding by, and I a pilgrim stranger, Would not detain them as they fly, those hours of toil and danger; For O we stand on Jordan’s strand, our friends are passing over, And just before, the shining shore we may almost discover. We’ll gird our loins my brethren dear, our distant home discerning, Our absent Lord has left us word, let every lamp be burning, For O we stand on Jordan’s strand, our friends are passing over, And just before, the shining shore we may almost discover.

— Abraham Lincoln

August 12th — I see the President almost every day, as I happen to live where he passes to or from his lodgings out of town. He never sleeps at the White House during the hot season, but has quarters at a healthy location some three miles north of the city, the Soldiers’ home, a United States military establishment. I saw him this morning about 8 1/2 coming in to business, riding on Vermont avenue, near L street. He always has a company of twenty-five or thirty cavalry, with sabres drawn and held upright over their shoulders. They say this guard was against his personal wish, but he let his counselors have their way. The party makes no great show in uniform or horses. Mr. Lincoln on the saddle generally rides a good-sized, easy-going gray horse, is dress’d in plain black, somewhat rusty and dusty, wears a black stiff hat, and looks about as ordinary in attire, &c., as the commonest man. A lieutenant, with yellow straps, rides at his left, and following behind, two by two, come the cavalry men, in their yellow-striped jackets. They are generally going at a slow trot, as that is the pace set them by the one they wait upon. The sabres and accoutrements clank, and the entirely unornamental cortège as it trots towards Lafayette square arouses no sensation, only some curious stranger stops and gazes. I see very plainly ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S dark brown face, with the deep-cut lines, the eyes, always to me with a deep latent sadness in the expression. We have got so that we exchange bows, and very cordial ones. Sometimes the President goes and comes in an open barouche. The cavalry always accompany him, with drawn sabres. Often I notice as he goes out evenings—and sometimes in the morning, when he returns early—he turns off and halts at the large and handsome residence of the Secretary of War, on K street, and holds conference there. If in his barouche, I can see from my window K street, and holds conference there. If in his barouche, I can see from my window he does not alight, but sits in his vehicle, and Mr. Stanton comes out to attend him. Sometimes one of his sons, a boy of ten or twelve, accompanies him, riding at his right on a pony. Earlier in the summer I occasionally saw the President and his wife, toward the latter part of the afternoon, out in a barouche, on a pleasure ride through the city. Mrs. Lincoln was dress’d in complete black, with a long crape veil. The equipage is of the plainest kind, only two horses, and they nothing extra. They pass’d me once very close, and I saw the President in the face fully, as they were moving slowly, and his look, though abstracted, happen’d to be directed steadily in my eye. He bow’d and smiled, but far beneath his smile I noticed well the expression I have alluded to. None of the artists or pictures has caught the deep, though subtle and indirect expression of this man’s face. There is something else there. One of the great portrait painters of two or three centuries ago is needed.

Soldiers and Talks

Soldiers, soldiers, soldiers, you meet everywhere about the city, often superb- looking men, though invalids dress’d in worn uniforms, and carrying canes or crutches. I often have talks with them, occasionally quite long and interesting. One, for instance, will have been all through the peninsula under McClellan—narrates to me the fights, the marches, the strange, quick changes of that eventful campaign, and gives glimpses of many things untold in any official reports or books or journals. These, indeed, are the things that are genuine and precious. The man was there, has been out two years, has been through a dozen fights, the superfluous flesh of talking is long work’d off him, and he gives me little but the hard meat and sinew. I find it refreshing, these hardy, bright, intuitive, American young men, (experienc’d soldiers with all their youth.) The vocal play and significance moves one more than books. Then there hangs something majestic about a man who has borne his part in battles, especially if he is very quiet regarding it when you desire him to unbosom. I am continually lost at the absence of blowing and blowers among these old-young American militaires. I have found some man or other who has been in every battle since the war began, and have talk’d with them about each one in every part of the United States, and many of the engagements on the rivers and harbors too. I find United States, and many of the engagements on the rivers and harbors too. I find men here from every State in the Union, without exception. (There are more Southerners, especially border State men, in the Union army than is generally supposed.*) I now doubt whether one can get a fair idea of what this war practically is, or what genuine America is, and her character, without some such experience as this I am having.

* MR. GARFIELD (In the House of Representatives, April 15,’79.) “Do gentlemen know that (leaving out all the border States) there were fifty regiments and seven companies of white men in our army fighting for the Union from the States that went into rebellion? Do they know that from the single State of Kentucky more Union soldiers fought under our flag than Napoleon took into the battle of Waterloo? more than Wellington took with all the allied armies against Napoleon? Do they remember that 186,000 color’d men fought under our flag against the rebellion and for the Union, and that of that number 90,000 were from the States which went into rebellion?”

A Silent Night Ramble

October 20th — To-night, after leaving the hospital at 10 o’clock, (I had been on self- imposed duty some five hours, pretty closely confined,) I wander’d a long time around Washington. The night was sweet, very clear, sufficiently cool, a voluptuous halfmoon, slightly golden, the space near it of a transparent blue-gray tinge. I walk’d up Pennsylvania avenue, and then to Seventh street, and a long while around the Patent-office. Somehow it look’d rebukefully strong, majestic, there in the delicate moonlight. The sky, the planets, the constellations all so bright, so calm, so expressively silent, so soothing, after those hospital scenes. I wander’d to and fro till the moist moon set, long after midnight.

“…it’s a bookend to [The] Long Christmas Ride Home, in which we follow through private trauma that for this moment in time became public but then goes back into the privacy of the family. [A Civil War Christmas] is sort of a bookend about how major public trauma that struck and divided and divorced a nation resonates down to every single family. And every single family has to look at that pain and we have to find a way of survival. . . . We have ancestors in the room at Christmas. Or Hanukah when we light those lights, you know? We are thanking the ones that went before us around our hearth. And that, too, is a way that we examine who we are as Americans.” — Playwright Paula Vogel in a September 2008 interview

A Civil War Christmas is not the first of Paula Vogel’s plays to have “Christmas” in the title. Her play The Long Christmas Ride Home, begins on Christmas Eve “decades and days ago/On the outskirts of Washington, D.C./just inside the Beltway.” On that particular Christmas, Vogel suspends a single moment in a family’s car ride home from church when the private turmoil of two parents becomes briefly, violently public. The play then reveals the proliferation of this trauma on future Christmases in the children’s lives. Also set on Christmas Eve in Washington, D.C., A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration looks at the holiday from the opposite angle. Taking a time of nationwide violence that historians have analyzed to exhaustion, Vogel considers its personal impact on Americans — how families and strangers, friends and foe intersected on the coincidence of the holiday with the war. In A Civil War Christmas, as in The Long Christmas Ride Home, Christmas Eve is a moment of potential, when people, actions and ideas intersect with an unknowable resultant course. In The Long Christmas Ride Home, when their father angrily draws back his hand on the car ride home from church, each child in the backseat wonders whether he or she could have done something to change the trajectory of the forthcoming slap. And in A Civil War Christmas, when the lives of a soldier, a And in A Civil War Christmas, when the lives of a soldier, a slave child and a president all hang equally in the balance on Christmas Eve 1864, one can only wonder how easily the course of history might have changed. Both plays capture a convergence of past and future, public and private, personal and political, that seems only to be possible at Christmas. After all, Christmas is by nature a point of convergence. In Christianity, the Nativity represents the intersection of Christ’s human and divine qualities. In history, December 25 marked the intersection of the early Christian holy day with ancient pagan feasts for the winter solstice. And in America, the weeks of late December find the intersection of multiple religious, cultural and civic celebrations: Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, and the occasional Ramadan; the changing season and the New Year; a break from work, a recess from school, a federal holiday; an unofficially declared family reunion and unique (momentary) melding of capitalism and generosity. In other nations, Christmas remains a more distinctly religious holiday. But in America, Christmas has become nationalized reminder that individual beliefs, cultures, social classes, and even political inclinations have to coexist here. The holiday took on this character in the wake of the Civil War. Prior to the 1860s, Americans observed comparatively fewer holidays than Europeans. Eighteenth- and early 19th-century American Christmases spanned the spectrum from Puritan denunciation of the holiday in New England, to imported German and Dutch customs in the middle colonies, to grand observances on Southern plantations that even granted a holiday to slaves. But on the four Christmases during the Civil War, conscientious attempts were made to keep the holiday for soldiers and civilians alike. “Even with all the sorrow that hangs, and will forever hang, over so many households,” wrote Harper’s Weekly on December 26, 1863, “even while war still rages; even while there are serious questions yet to be settled — ought it not to be, and is it not, a merry Christmas?” During the postwar Reconstruction — ideological and economic — Americans latched onto Christmas as a part of a new national identity; in 1870 it became a latched onto Christmas as a part of a new national identity; in 1870 it became a national holiday. Indeed, Christmas in America seems inextricably linked to reconstruction; Christmas Eve, to a moment of hope for a better outcome before beginning again. Between the bookends of A Civil War Christmas and The Long Christmas Ride Home, Vogel points to the connective tissue of family, community and history through which individual pain and national conflict affect one another. In doing so she uncovers ongoing tragedy alongside the usual Christmas merriment. But through the shared holiday setting of the two plays, Vogel also seems to suggest that Christmas is a chance to end that tragedy, an annual moment of convergence among personal and political, past and present, when change is especially possible.

Throughout this season, our program will feature artists interviewing other artists working at the Huntington. Below, Huntington Artistic Director

Peter DuBois talks with playwright Paula Vogel, Peter DuBois author of A Civil War Christmas: An American Paula Vogel Musical Celebration and Peter's former mentor at Brown University. This interview has been edited for space; please find the full article here.

Peter DuBois: This is your second production of A Civil War Christmas. You have some provocative notions about the value of second and third productions. Paula Vogel: I don’t think plays are ever finished. Maybe by the thirdproduction, the playwright says, “Okay—I think I’ve had it.” The thrillingthing about a second production is to see a different actor playing Lincolnor Bronson or Keckley. Can I make the role so specific that it will fit allactors who play it? That really does take separate productions and differentcommunities to listen to the response.

Another reason a play isn’t finished is that the questions shift in waysoutside my

Another reason a play isn’t finished is that the questions shift in waysoutside my control. For example, it was very meaningful doing A Civil War Christmas during the last election. There’s something very different about doing A Civil War Christmas in the aftermath of the election while peopleare attending town halls with signs saying, “Civil rights or civil war.” People are talking literally about seceding from the Union, so there will be a different resonance about Lincoln and a different level of anxiety about possible violence. There’s no way artists can foretell [what will happen]; we hope we’re creating work that continues the conversation that is in our neighborhood at this moment in time. PD: Where did the idea for this show come from? PV: It was a blink. Molly Smith had just gotten the job [as artistic director] at Arena Stage, and I started talking to her about Washington, D.C.’s amazing history. It isn’t really a town; it’s a national home. Living there, you really feel the Civil War was just yesterday. I said to Molly, “Why is everyone doing A Christmas Carol?" And, it came in a blink: Christmas during the Civil War. I’ve gone to every battlefield. I know just about every single CivilWar ballad from growing up in D.C. and Maryland. And I remembered “O, Maryland, My Maryland”—which is a secessionist song and [although it is the state’s current anthem,] the lyrics still have not been changed—and “O Tannenbaum” are sung to the same tune. I took a crayon on this paper table cloth at dinner and I wrote the outline on the table. That was in 1997. How that happens, I don’t know. I wrote the text in 2006, so the research took, I guess, nine years.

As a country, we have no memory. [As I began writing the play,] I started thinking about issues of race, poverty, and social justice at Christmastime. I was dealing with this sense of mourning over Katrina and alarm over the immigration debates. Now, we’re shifting to healthcare and the recession, but all of this is still informed by who gets the resources and who doesn’t. Our attention shifts, but the basic inequity is still the same. PD: Absolutely. It’s the role of the artist in culture to look at these seemingly disconnected or disparate events and to see that there’s a core narrative driving through all of them. And your piece just continues to evolve. PV: I want to be ambitious. As audience members, we often aren’t asked to be ambitious, and so there may be some irritation in being asked to follow four plotlines; I can understand that. We’re so used to entertainment that basically cuts up our meat for us and mashes our potatoes. What happens to us as audience members when there’s something that’s not completely pre-digested for us? It’s hard for me to say.

The Civil War is still with us. There is no voting representation for the District of Columbia. Where does that come from? That comes from the African-Americans who fled slavery and crossed the river into the United States. Congress was alarmed to give African-Americans direct representation. So the Civil War is just yesterday, or actually it’s today, if you’re in Washington, D.C.

I am incredibly wounded at the polarization, at people who weep, “I want my country back.” I don’t have a solution. The only thing that I want to ask is: do you think we can face what happened over 150 years ago in this country and actually take it to the next step for our children and our children’s children? Do you think think we can face what happened over 150 years ago in this country and actually take it to the next step, for our children and our children’s children? Do you think we’re going to be able to move to the next chapter as a country? That’s the only real question I have. PD: It’s a profound one. PV: I think we’re at a point in time of incredible civic danger and we’ve got to talk. I think that this is part and parcel of us losing civility and dialogue. We have to fight for the importance of the arts because it is civility indiscourse. It calls on us to be emotionally accessible and vulnerable and responsive to each other. PD: I think [at the Huntington] we’re finding the strategies to redefine how the artist is protected and appreciated. A big part of that is throwing back the curtain and opening up the process to the audience. Boston has a sense of friendship, alliance, and emotional connection with artists in the same way that we do with our sports teams. If we can really focus on core groups of artists that we feel a sense of kinship with, the audience develops a relationship with them over time, which I think is critical. PV: You know, in the past 26 years, I’ve become a New Englander. I teach at Yale University. I live part time in Branford, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island; I’m actually a resident of Truro, Massachusetts. There’s a pride I have of living my life in New England. There’s a pride I have of living in towns where people still make their living from the sea. This is a unique place. There is an incredible historical legacy here. I am in awe ofthe fact that you’re doing this play in a theatre built in 1925 in a town where the Revolution was started. It is meaningful to be invited into the Huntington, and to be able to work in the state where I live. By paying attention to our homes, to where we live and where we work, maybe we can start a conversation of national impact. We can point to New Englanders’ impact in the world of arts and in our civic conversation as American citizens. PD: I grew up in Connecticut, and you and I met at Brown University. I feel that New England is my home as well, and that it’s historically been at the forefront of change for the country. Here in Boston and in New England, I believe we’re really at the hub of great thinking that can have an incredible impact on the future of the country. And, we’re so proud to have you here, Paula. PV: I’m so proud to be at the Huntington. I’m so proud to be working with you.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES

Christmas in 1864 marked the end of the American Civil War. The battle on the frontlines was now being replaced by battles of the soul as weary citizens tried to put their lives back together. Their stories, connected as much by loss as by hope for peace in the New Year, capture the transformation of a country still struggling to survive.

OBJECTIVES

Students will:

1. Identify key issues in A Civil War Christmas including: o Christmas miracles o Wrestling demons o Hope and actuality o Historical figures portrayed in a semi-fictional play 2. Relate themes and issues in the play to their own lives. 3. Analyze the themes and issues within the historical and social context of the play. 4. Participate in hands-on activities that enhance understanding of the production. 5. Evaluate the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of A Civil War Christmas.

Audience Etiquette

Because many students have not had the opportunity to view live theatre, we are including an audience etiquette section with each literary/curriculum guide. Teachers, please spend time on this subject since it will greatly enhance your students’ experience at the theatre.

1 How does one respond to a live performance of a play as opposed to when seeing a 1. How does one respond to a live performance of a play, as opposed to when seeing a film at a local cinema? What is the best way to approach viewing a live performance of a play? What things should you look and listen for? 2. What is the audience’s role during a live performance? How do you think audience behavior can affect an actor’s performance? 3. What do you know about the theatrical rehearsal process? Have you ever participated in one as an actor, singer, director, or technical person? 4. How do costumes, set, lights, sound, and props enhance a theatre production?

SYNOPSIS

The play takes place on Christmas Eve, 1864, near the end of the Civil War, in Washington, D.C.

Act One: It is a chilly night on the Potomac River in Washington, DC. As the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow introduces us to the Christmas season, a Chorus of characters leads us through several intertwining stories. The Confederate and Union armies are on edge in these last days of the Civil War, and generals on both sides lament the loss of life before the Christmas holiday. Decatur Bronson, a black soldier and smithy, works through the night making horseshoes for the Union army. Formerly a slave, he enlisted a year ago to avenge the kidnapping of his wife, Rose, until they are reunited. Since then, he has risen to the rank of Staff Sergeant and led his company to victory over Confederate troops in the Battle of Chapin’s Farm. In the capitol, President Abraham Lincoln, hoping to surprise his wife Mary with a new pair of fine leather gloves, plans to ride out to his Summer Cottage where he hid them. Before he leaves, he must avoid his Chief of Security, Ward Hill Lamon, who is bent on protecting him after a slew of death threats. Downtown, Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln is out shopping with her friend, the reputable black dressmaker Elizabeth Keckley, when she gets the idea to find a Christmas tree for the White House. Since this is not yet a widespread custom, Mary has trouble finding a tree until she takes one from the Wormleys, a family of merchants. Hannah, a runaway slave, is escaping the oppression of the South with her Hannah, a runaway slave, is escaping the oppression of the South with her daughter, Jessa, by traveling to the safety of Washington, DC. She is stopped at a bridge by sentries, but sneaks her daughter over the border to the city, ordering her to run from any white slave-catchers and promising that she will meet her at the President’s House. Mrs. Keckley, whose son George died in the war recently, feels a strange connection to the young Jessa as she wanders, lost, through Washington in the bitter cold. Also on the road is a Confederate sympathizer, a teenage boy named Raz, who sneaks away from home on horseback to join a gang of rebellious raiders. He stumbles onto Bronson at the Union Supply Depot, but slips away before he is caught. Meanwhile, a group of conspirators led by John Wilkes Booth, a Southern actor with a deep hatred of the Union, receives word of Lincoln’s secret trip to his Summer Cottage. They prepare a trap to abduct the President to avenge the South.

Act Two: Jessa is swept up by a crowd as she tries to find her way to the White House, while Mrs. Lincoln frantically trims the Christmas tree. Just as Bronson prepares for a confrontation, he runs into Private Chester Saunders, a fellow Union soldier. Though he is white, Chester is an abolitionist who believes in treating all men as equals regardless of race. He helps Bronson with his work as they tentatively begin to talk. Hannah arrives at the White House just in time to see President Lincoln leave for a party at the War Department. He sneaks out early to travel alone to the Summer Cottage as Booth and his gang wait to attack him. Deep in conversation with Bronson, Chester reveals that he is a Quaker and a pacifist who only enlisted to help free the nation of slavery. Since his religion forbids him to kill, he distributes food to troops with the quartermaster. He says that he writes letters to his mother every day, and Bronson asks for his help improving his writing. He is determined to write letters to Rose every day until he finds her again. In the city, Jessa is still lost and now succumbing to hypothermia, while raiders out in the woods have captured Raz. Though they have mostly been disbanded, Raz joins their company and rides off to rob Bronson’s supply depot.

Mrs. Lincoln, visiting a hospital to comfort injured Union soldiers, talks to a Jewish Mrs. Lincoln, visiting a hospital to comfort injured Union soldiers, talks to a Jewish patient named Moses Levy. Overwhelmed by fever, he sees a vision of President Lincoln’s future assassination at Ford’s Theatre. Mary promises that she will return the next day, haunted by the memory of her young son who died in a fever years before. At the White House, Hannah raises the alarm about her missing daughter, while Jessa stumbles upon Booth’s trap. Just then, President Lincoln rides by and, mistaking him for a slave-catcher, she runs away. The Wormley brothers, on their way to retrieve their Christmas tree from the White House, appear and disburse the conspirators. In the city, a search party has been formed to rescue Jessa from the freezing cold night. At the Armory Hospital, Moses is visited by the poet Walt Whitman, who delivers small gifts to the patients and comforts Moses through the night. Raz crosses the thin ice on the Potomac River and sneaks into the Union Supply Depot, only to get caught by Bronson and Chester. Discovering that Raz is now a member of the Confederate raiders, Bronson orders Chester back to camp, claiming that he will release the boy, but intent on honoring his vow to "take no prisoners. . . " As the search for Jessa ends at the ten o’clock curfew, Mrs. Keckley finds her sleeping in the alley in her old silks crate. While she struggles to revive the child, Mrs. Lincoln is shocked to find her Christmas tree missing, having been taken back by the Wormley brothers. Nevertheless, President Lincoln is happy to give her a gift of new gloves. Then, just as Bronson is about to fire, he realized that he cannot hold a prisoner if he invites him as a guest. He shares a Christmas meal with Raz and Chester as Jessa is returned to her mother. As the song of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow rings through the air, the players dream of the country uniting in peace, and the play comes to an end. EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE PLAY

• April 12, 1861: The Civil War begins as Confederate forces open fire on Fort Sumter. • January 1, 1863: President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the Confederacy. • July 3, 1863: Confederate soldiers from Texas kidnap Rose while retreating from the Battle of Gettysburg and force her into slavery. One day later, Decatur Bronson joins the Union army to fight until they are reunited Battle of Gettysburg and force her into slavery. One day later, Decatur Bronson joins the Union army to fight until they are reunited. • November 19, 1863: President Lincoln delivers the famous Gettysburg Address, commemorating soldiers killed in action and promoting a united nation. • September 29, 1864: Battle of Chapin’s Farm, where Staff Sergeant Decatur Bronson and his troops kill an entire battalion of Confederate soldiers. • November 8, 1864: Abraham Lincoln is reelected for a second term as the President of the United States. • December 14, 1864: Almost two weeks before the play begins, Bronson is stationed at Point Lookout. He transfers to a Supply Depot on the Potomac River.

IN THE CLASSROOM

A Civil War Christmas takes place in many locations, often with scenes featuring more than one storyline playing out at the same time. Also, remember that with a cast of only thirteen, ninety characters are portrayed. Choosing two characters, draw what you imagine one of the locations would look like, paying particular attention to historical accuracy. You can also go one step further, and create a model or diorama of your design.

KEY ISSUES

Christmas Miracles A Civil War Christmas is filled with potential tragedies that the characters, either through luck or determination, manage to avert. Jessa, a former slave struggling to stay alive on the bitter cold streets of Washington D.C., is saved by a chance encounter with Elizabeth Keckley. President Lincoln, stalked by an assassin, unknowingly cheats death (at least for a time). Decatur Bronson, facing another opportunity to avenge his wife’s death, decides he cannot kill another Confederate soldier. Even a misplaced Christmas tree finds its way to the Children’s Home, where it can be enjoyed by children who otherwise would have nothing. Do you think that Paula Vogel ties up her loose ends too nicely in the play? Or should the purpose of a "Christmas play" be to offer comfort and joy even in the most difficult of circumstances? Wrestling Demons Wrestling Demons The main characters in the play struggle with their own memories, dreams, and visions. It seems as if voices from beyond their world want to help them along the path of life. Sometimes the message is unclear, as in the case of Moses Levy’s fever-induced hallucination. He fails to communicate President Lincoln’s tragic fate to the oblivious Mary Todd. And yet a life is saved by Elizabeth Keckley’s own recurring nightmare. She is forced out into the cold by memories of the man who harmed her and the son who died avenging those crimes. As she gathers herself, she stumbles upon little Jessa in a pile of rags and straw. Minutes more and Jessa would have been lost forever. What is Vogel saying about the memories that haunt us, and the dreams that drive us? How do the characters’ internal struggles change their external world?

Hope and Actuality Ely Parker remarks at the beginning of the play “the hope of peace is sweeter than peace itself.” Do you agree? Can an event be more powerful to envision than to experience? In the play, Hannah imagines her daughter, Jessa, knocking on the White House door demanding help from President Lincoln. Instead, Jessa meets the President under entirely different circumstances and believes he is a slave catcher out to do her harm. John Wilkes Booth also envisions a momentous encounter with President Lincoln, but is forced to give up on his sinister plot as the night drags on. What do these events tell us about the connection between hope and actuality? Perhaps the most poignant hope in the play belongs to Decatur Bronson, who longs to reunite with his wife Rose. Do you think their reunion, if it happened, would be as sweet as he imagines?

Historical Figures Portrayed in a semi-fictional play Using the brief descriptions included in this curriculum guide as a jumping off point, research historical figures’ pasts and determine the influences that each had on the development of the United States. Why do you think Ms. Vogel chose these specific historical figures to include in her play?

PREPARATION FOR A CIVIL WAR PREPARATION FOR A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS

PAULA VOGEL*

Paula Vogel, a giant in modern American theatre, began her career as the winner of the National Student Playwriting Award (from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival) for her play Meg in 1977. Since then, she has written a number of popular plays and has won many awards for her work, not least of which was the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1998 for her play How I Learned to Drive. Ms. Vogel’s career also stretches beyond Broadway and into the classroom. She has been an admired professor at several prestigious universities, where would-be playwrights fight for the precious few seats in her popular classes. She is known for an unconventional teaching style that challenges students to develop and produce more creative work, even if it means participating in non-traditional exercises. For example, it’s okay in her class to write a play that would be impossible to produce on a real stage. How and when did Paula Vogel begin her work in the theatre? Which playwright does Paula Vogel hold in the highest regard? Ms. Vogel says, “We are in a curious cultural time in which the majority of art has become escapist.” What do you think she means by this? Do you agree or disagree? Can you think of examples of “escapist” art, and of art trying to deliver a more thought provoking message? Which kind of art do you prefer? *Adapted from the Long Wharf Theatre’s Teacher Information Packet: A Civil War Christmas.

SLAVERY AND THE ECONOMY

Nearly 150 years removed from the Civil War, it may be difficult to understand how or why slavery became so accepted and widespread in the United States. Many scholars believe that the answer is, at least in part, economic. Slaves provided a scholars believe that the answer is, at least in part, economic. Slaves provided a powerful labor force that served as the foundation for the early American economy, with nearly one-eighth of the population held in slavery by the 1800s. It is important to note, however, that the end of American slavery did not spell the end of American prosperity. To the contrary, the country underwent an economic boom after the Civil War that has continued (albeit with some interruptions) to the present day. Does the country’s success over the last 150 years cast doubt upon the supposed link between slavery and the economy? Even if there is such a link, does it surprise you that mainstream Americans would put economic advancement ahead of freedom and other basic human rights? First, research the years 1860-1865 and choose three pivotal events, which may have made conflict between the Northern and Southern states inevitable. Secondly, research relevant historical, social, and political events of the two decades prior to the American Civil War. Determine which laws, decisions, and political opinions set the stage for the Civil War.

MASTERY ASSESSMENT

ACT ONE

1. Describe the setting of A Civil War Christmas. When and where does the action take place? 2. What has happened to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s son? 3. What gift does General Robert E. Lee refuse from Willy Mack? Why won’t he take it? 4. What does Lee think he’s lost? 5. Why is Ulysses S. Grant feeling “peaceful”? 6. Describe President Lincoln’s strange dream. Why do you think he didn’t tell his wife about it? 7. Why is it surprising to the Lieutenant that Decatur Bronson owns a farm? 8. What has happened to Bronson’s wife? 9. What happened to the soldiers who lost at the Battle of Fort Pillow? How do the black soldiers now retaliate for this tragedy? 10. What does Hannah, a former slave, think President Lincoln can do for her and her daughter, Jessa? 11. Why does Raz want to fight for the Confederate army? 12. How does Raz finally convince Silver, the horse, to join Confederate forces? 13. What does General Sherman ask of Lincoln in his telegram? 14. What does Lincoln decide to give to his wife as a Christmas present? Where must he go to get it? 14. What does Lincoln decide to give to his wife as a Christmas present? Where must he go to get it? 15. How does Lincoln take care of the death threat against him? 16. What is the scandal involving Mary Todd Lincoln? 17. What grief do Mrs. Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley share? What relationship do Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckley have? 18. What does Mrs. Keckley want to give to the Children’s Home as a Christmas gift? Why is this difficult to accomplish? 19. What gift does Mrs. Keckley want from the President and Mrs. Lincoln? What is its significance? 20. Why aren’t Hannah and Jessa allowed to cross the Potomac River? How does Jessa get through? 21. As chief of security, what does Ward Hill Lamon insist the President must do? 22. Why was it important for Mrs. Keckley to learn how to sew as a child? 23. What celebrity is visiting Mary Surrat’s boarding house? 24. Why is Anna Surrat upset by her mother’s new acquaintance? Why didn’t Mrs. Surrat know who she was with? 25. What plan does John Wilkes Booth concoct with the information accidentally disclosed by Weichmann? 26. Whose Christmas tree did Mrs. Lincoln take without knowing it to give as a gift to her husband? Why is this situation ironic? 27. How did the escaped prisoner of war, Moses Levy, know his nurse, Clara Barton?

ACT TWO

1. Why does Jessa have difficulty finding the President’s house? 2. Why is Chester Manton Saunders and Bronson’s relationship unusual for the time? 3. Why do Bronson and the recruiting officer think it is unwise for Chester to join the army? How did Corporal Willis try to keep Chester out of battle? 4. What does Chester tell his mother about his experiences in the army? Is he truthful? 5. Why does Mrs. Keckley have so much difficulty finishing little Blair’s cloak? 6. Where has Mrs. Lincoln gone while the President is out? 7. How did Walt Whitman help wounded soldiers? 8. What vision does Moses Levy have before he dies? 9. For whom did Jessa mistake the President? Why was this an unfortunate event? 10. How do James and Frederick get the tree back? 11. Who promises to help Hannah find Jessa? 12. What happened to Mrs. Thomas’s house? How did she “save” the President? 13. Why does Bronson tell Chester he is to release Raz? How is this against normal protocol? 14. Who is Bingham and how does he haunt Mrs. Keckley? 15. Who finds Jessa? How does this happen? 16. Who was more surprised by the presentation of Mrs. Lincoln’s gift to her husband— President Lincoln or Mrs. Lincoln herself? Why? 17. Why did Hannah have the best Christmas of her life?

OPEN RESPONSE AND WRITING OPEN RESPONSE AND WRITING

Open Response Assessment

Instructions to the students: Please answer the following as thoroughly as possible in a well-planned and carefully written paragraph. Remember to use topic sentences and examples from the text.

1. Do you think A Civil War Christmas is a fitting title for this play? Why or why not? 2. Paula Vogel writes in her notes that “all music in the play is public domain.” What does this mean? Why is it helpful for producers of the play? 3. Was President Lincoln brave or naïve in the handling of his own security? Explain your reasoning. 4. Compare and contrast Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley. Do you think under any circumstances they would be friends? 5. Discuss an episode of mistaken identity from the play. How does this encounter affect each character? Does their meeting change the course of the play for better or for worse? 6. After reading the play, discuss the state of the American economy during the Civil War. Was it a prosperous time? Cite examples from the text to defend your answer. 7. Moses Levy’s religious faith is different from that of the other main characters. Why do you think this fact is important in the play?

Writing Assignments

1. Paula Vogel uses the literary technique of foreshadowing throughout A Civil War Christmas. What is foreshadowing? Describe an example from the play. 2. After Decatur Bronson decides not to shoot his prisoner Raz, they sit down to dinner with Chester Manton Saunders and toast Bronson’s kidnapped wife. Ms. Vogel writes that they are “the three wisest men in the country.” What makes them the wise men of this Christmas play? 3. Hannah talks about what “home” is not, but believes President Lincoln will help her find one. What makes a place “home”? Do you agree with Hannah’s ideas about what a home should be like? Could you still make a home even under the circumstances she describes? 4. In the play Mrs. Lincoln is subject to horrible mood swings. Examine the text. Why might Mrs. Lincoln have been frustrated and grieving despite the success of her husband and her their privileged status within society? 5. At the conclusion of the play Raz says, “I would gladly spill every drop of my blood. . . if it would save my country.” Who has said this line before in the play? Does it seem, in either case, that the end of these individual’s lives would change the course of the war? Does this sentiment make sense to you?

6. Write a scene depicting part of the story that we hear about in the play, but is not in the stage action. 7. The way in which Americans celebrate Christmas has changed dramatically over the years. How do modern holiday celebrations differ from those in the past? What does the diversity of different holidays celebrated at the same time of the year (Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, etc.) say about the makeup of our country? 8. Select one of the following quotes and discuss it in essay form: o “The season is upon us, and whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or New Year’s—it’s a time when we feel our connection to a larger Community.” o “You know what the moral of this story is? Be kind to clerks, secretaries and harness salesmen because you never know [who] they will end up to be. . . ” o “It’s a White Man’s privilege to starve to death in a prison camp.” o “Back then, the People of the United States were very much the President’s Boss. Nowadays, if someone keeps asking where the President lives. . . call the police.” o “The best thing you can give your husband this Christmas would be. . . the gladness of your heart.” 9. Write a critical review of the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of A Civil War Christmas and submit it for publication to your school newspaper. Be sure to send the Huntington a copy!

ARTS ASSESSMENT

The following exercises are interactive, hands-on challenges in drama, music, directing, and design. They aim to give students a better understanding of the many tasks that contribute to a theatrical production.

Creating Characterization Have each student choose a character from A Civil War Christmas to portray. Ask students to answer the following questions about their characters as if they are preparing for the role in rehearsal: (a) What is my objective in the play, and which obstacles stand in my way? (b) How, if at all, does my character transform during the course of the play? (c) Are there any contradictions inherent in my character? (d) What do other characters think of my character, and what does my character think of them?

Acting Acting Have students form small groups to act out a scene from the play. Select an important moment from A Civil War Christmas. Use props and costumes, if possible, to enhance the performance. Students should consider their placement on the stage, blocking (who moves where and when), gestures, vocal tone, and the intended emotional impact of the scene. Use the above activity, Creating Characterization, to help students develop their assigned roles. Music Vogel’s play is filled with music and would be incomplete without it. One of the songs mentioned in the Director’s Notes is The Yellow Rose of Texas, the unofficial state song of Texas. Listen to the song first (found easily on the Internet). Do you think it is a happy or sad song? Conduct some further research. Who does legend say wrote it? Why is this piece of music significant in African-American history? Does the rhythm and mood of this song match the story it is trying to tell? Why or why not? A Civil War Christmas uses music of the time period to help tell the story. If a playwright 100 years from now were to write a play in the similar style about the early years of the 21st century, what music would he or she use? What if the play was about when your parents were growing up? Your Grandparents? What does the popular music of a particular time period say about the people who lived at that time? Paula Vogel uses the lyrics of the songs in A Civil War Christmas as a part of the play to help further the storytelling. Using a popular holiday song, create a scene based around the lyrics. Make sure to have your characters speak or sing the song lyrics as a part of the story. Visual Art What did the first Christmas trees in the United States look like? Using any medium you choose, create a representation of an early American Christmas tree. What, if anything, was used for decoration? Keep in mind that Christmas tree lights as we know them today were not invented until 1903! Casting Challenge The play boasts a cast of 39 named characters (and as many as 50 more unnamed). While a production could be staged with eight actors, Vogel suggests it unnamed). While a production could be staged with eight actors, Vogel suggests it would be easier with eighteen. How would you cast the parts? Using your classmates as your actors, assign the roles. Would you prefer a large cast in which each actor has a small role, or is it easier to work with a smaller cast, each member with greater responsibilities in the play? Defend your choice as the director of the production.

FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION

1. In response to seeing the arrival of prisoners of war, Walt Whitman wrote: “The sight is worse than any sight of battle-fields. There are deeds, crimes, that may be forgiven; but this is not among them.” Research the history of the Geneva Conventions. How was the Geneva Convention of 1864 a response to America’s Civil War? How did the Conventions adapt and change over time? Do you believe that they reduce war crimes? Why or why not? 2. Clara Barton nurses the wounded soldier, Moses Levy, as he faces death in the play. After further research on this nurse and humanitarian, what would you consider her most impressive achievement? Discuss the international history of the Red Cross. What is the institution’s purpose today? 3. In the play, the Christmas tree is referred to as a “pagan” or “Bavarian” custom. What is the origin of the Christmas tree? Is there any truth to the above claims? Do you think Christmas is a religious holiday, American holiday, or something else? 4. The Christmas tree gained widespread popularity in the English-speaking world when Queen Victoria adopted the custom. How do modern Americans learn their customs, fashion, and values? Do you take your cue from your family, the media, or from politics? 5. On March 23, 1865, the President of the Confederate States signed General Order 14 legalizing the use of black troops in combat. What was the controversy surrounding this political move? Research the history of blacks in the Confederate army. Were these soldiers actually slaves forced into battle by their slave-owners? Did any black soldiers fight, not under duress, but out of their own free will? 6. Some scholars believe that the United States should pay reparations to the 6. Some scholars believe that the United States should pay reparations to the descendants of slaves as a way of mitigating the damages caused by slavery. Consider this idea. Do you think that the country should—or even can—right past wrongs by making payments or transferring land to citizens alive today? What difficulties can you foresee in carrying out such a program?

HANDOUT 1: VOCABULARY

• Write definitions of each word. • Find synonyms for new vocabulary words. • Find antonyms for new vocabulary words. Abolitionist Melancholy

Adage Oblivion

Astray Pagan

Battalion Partisan

Belfry Patronage

Boisterous Perilous

Bowery Pernicious

Cacophony Pestilence

Contraband Potentates

Delude Rapt

Dominion Regale

Eminent domain Reverie

Dulcimer Scourge

Forlorn Seder

Gaiety Shiva

Gulley Smithy

Hypothermia Sublime

Imperative Tilled

Jurisdiction Trifle

Malice Vengeance

Manic Vestibule

Medley Vigil

HANDOUT 2: CIVIL WAR TIMELINE IMPORTANT HISTORICAL FIGURES

Use the information below to put A Civil War Christmas into its historical and political context.

TIMELINE

1860

• November 6: Abraham Lincoln is elected 16th President of the United States. • December 20: South Carolina is the first state to secede from the Union.

1861

• February 8: The Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States is created. • April 12: Confederate rebels open fire on the U.S. Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, officially beginning the Civil War.

1862

• August 25: President Lincoln allows blacks to serve in the Union army.

1863

• January 1: The Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Lincoln, frees slaves in the Confederate states. • July 1-3: Union army defeats Confederate forces at the Battle of Gettysburg, ending the Confederate invasion of the North. • November 19: President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address.

1864

• March 2: Ulysses S. Grant is named General-in-Chief of the Union army and promoted to Lieutenant General a week later. • April 12: Confederates capture Fort Pillow and massacre surrendered black troops. • November 8: President Lincoln is re-elected to serve a second term.

1865 1865

• February 6: Robert E. Lee is named General-in-Chief for all Confederate forces. • April 9: General Lee surrenders to General Grant at Appomattox Courthouse. • April 12: Confederate forces officially surrender arms at Appomattox. • April 14: President Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.

CAST OF HISTORICAL CHARACTERS

• Abraham Lincoln: 16th President of the United States who served during the entire Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation. • Mary Todd Lincoln: Wife of the President. She lost her son, Willie, to a fever. She was known for her outspoken demeanor and expensive tastes. • John Wilkes Booth: Successful actor and Confederate sympathizer. Assassinated the President on April 14, 1865 at Ford’s Theatre. • Ward Hill Lamon: Friend of Lincoln who put himself in charge of his security when the President arrived at the White House. • Elizabeth Keckley: Dressmaker who bought her freedom from slavery and became a close friend of Mary Todd Lincoln. Her son George joined the Union army and was killed in action. • Decatur Bronson: Based on two historical soldiers, James Bronson of Ohio and Decatur Dorsey of Maryland. Both men were former slaves who became sergeants and won Medals of Honor in separate regiments. Bronson saw action in the Battle of Chapin’s Farm. • Ulysses S. Grant: Lieutenant General of the Union army and later the 18th President of the United States. • Robert E. Lee: General of the Army of Northern Virginia and commander of the Confederate forces. • Clara Barton: Nurse for Union soldiers during the Civil War. She later founded the American Red Cross. • Walt Whitman: Poet from New York most famous for writing Leaves of Grass. • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Poet from New England who wrote the words to I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.

*Adapted from the Long Wharf Theatre’s Teacher Information Packet: A Civil War Christmas.

HANDOUT 3: GROUP WORK HANDOUT 3: GROUP WORK

FACT-CHECK—HISTORICAL ACCURACY IN A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS A Civil War Christmas is a piece of historical fiction. Can you tell which parts of the play are fact, and which are fiction? In groups of two or three, fill in the table below by researching the historical points. Be sure to elaborate if there is any controversy surrounding the text.

TEXT FACT OR FICTION

The Christmas tree is a “Bavarian custom.”

General Grant, before the war, was “a

down on his luck harness salesman.”

Decatur Bronson was a decorated soldier of the Union army whose wife

was kidnapped by Confederate troops.

At the Battle of Fort Pillow, Confederate soldiers massacred black Union soldiers.

Luis J. Weichmann provided information leading to an

assassination attempt on Lincoln’s life by John Wilkes Booth.

ML JihUi Moses Levy was a Jewish Union

soldier cared for by Clara Barton.

Mary Todd Lincoln accumulated debts equal to ten times her husband’s annual salary.

Did you wonder about the historical accuracy of any other scenes in the play? Fact- check three more points that interest you. Share your discoveries with your class.

1.

2.

3.

LESSON PLANS

Teachers’ Note: Choose activities that are appropriate for your classroom period. All assignments are suggestions. Only a teacher knows his or her class well enough to determine the level and depth to which any piece of literature may be examined.

ONE-DAY LESSON PLAN introduces students to the context and major themes of the production. DAY ONE—Introducing the Play 1. Distribute Mastery Assessment for A Civil War Christmas for students to read before the performance and to review again after attending it. Optional: Distribute Vocabulary Handout 1 and ask students to define each word. Students should also review Handout 2: CIVIL WAR TIMELINE & IMPORTANT HISTORICAL FIGURES before seeing the play. 2. Read the Synopsis of the play. Discuss other works students have studied with similar themes and issues. 3. If time allows, discuss further pages from the literary guide, narrating highlights for students. FOUR-DAY LESSON PLAN introduces students to the production and then, after FOUR-DAY LESSON PLAN introduces students to the production and then, after viewing the performance, asks them to think critically about what they have seen. Includes time for class discussion and individual assessment. DAY ONE—Introducing the Play Same as Day One above; completed before seeing the production. DAY TWO—The Production Attend the performance at the Huntington Theatre Company. Homework: Students should answer the Mastery Assessment questions. DAY THREE—Follow-up Discussion Discuss Mastery Assessment answers in class. DAY FOUR—Test Individual Assessment: Choose either several questions from the Open Response or two questions from Writing Assignments for students to answer in one class period. Optional: Students may choose one of the For Further Exploration or Media Assessment tasks to complete for extra credit. SEVEN-DAY LESSON PLAN completely integrates A Civil War Christmas into your schedule. Within seven school days, you can introduce the play, assign reading and vocabulary, and assess your students as individuals and in groups. Students will ideally view the play after completing Mastery Assessment questions. DAY ONE—Introducing the play Same as Day One above. Optional: Distribute Vocabulary Handout due on Day Four. Homework: Read Act One and answer corresponding Mastery Assessment questions. DAY TWO—Act One Discuss the first part of the play and answers to Mastery Assessment questions. Homework: Read Act Two and answer corresponding Mastery Assessment questions.

DAY THREE—Act Two Discuss the second half of the play and answers to Mastery Assessment questions. Optional: Complete Vocabulary Handout for homework. DAY FOUR—Group work Complete Handout 3: FACT-CHECK. Leave time for class discussion. Optional: Review Vocabulary Handout. DAY FIVE—Attend Performance Optional: Students may choose to complete one of the For Further Exploration or Media Assessment tasks for extra credit. DAY SIX—Review/Preparation Students should answer the Open Response questions as preparation for their test the following day. DAY SEVEN—Test Individual Assessment: Choose two questions from the Writing Assignments DAY SEVEN—Test Individual Assessment: Choose two questions from the Writing Assignments for students to answer in one class period.

RELATED WORKS AND RESOURCES

To broaden your familiarity with Paula Vogel and the key topics in the play, consider consulting the following resources: Plays The Baltimore Waltz by Paula Vogel (1992) How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel (1997) The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel (2003) Books Christmas in America: A History by Penne L. Redstad (1996) Civil War Songbook by Keith and Rusty McNeil (1999) Everyday Life: The Civil War by Walter Hazen (1999) A Grand Army of Black Men by Edwin S. Redkey (1992) Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (1996) DVDs Amistad directed by Steven Spielberg (1999) The Civil War directed by Ken Burns for PBS (1990) Gettysburg directed by Ronald F. Maxwell (1993) Glory directed by Edward Zwick (1989) Gone With the Wind directed by Victor Fleming (2000) The Last Days of the Civil War for A&E (2003) *Adapted from the Long Wharf Theatre’s Teacher Information Packet: A Civil War Christmas.