usical ¡ourney takes pláce tonight
Loren Ford rocks the Civil War
Sí
Guest Writer
I Music is yet another avenue
lhat provides a psychological
Insight into the people of the
Civil War era, as it does any
era. There is an opportunity to
hear some of this music tonight
in the Gregory Forum.
I Daniel Partner, who will be
the opening performance, not
only performs songs from the
Civil War era, but plays them
3
on a banjo like those used dur
ing that time.
I Following Partner, Bill and
Carla Coleman will be giving
their presentation, “Taps: the
Civil War in Word and Song.”
the program incorporates
music,
m
letters and diaries from
the Civil War to show what that
*
qra was like.
I “People influence history
and history influences people,”
says Social Science instructor
{.oren Ford, which is a primary
focus of the Civil War and
Psychology class he teaches at
i) Clackamas.
I History isn’t just a bunch of
>J facts and figures, battle strate-
v gics or casualty statistics.
,]. When you begin to delve more
c into the psychology of the peo
8 ple who participated in the
| events that m.ake up history,
can see there is more than
I you
might
initially meets the eye.
I
According to Ford, it’s the peo
I ple and how they affected his-
|L
0 tory and were affected by it
ji that makes history really inter-
ai esting.
j( ■ Ford first became interested
I in the Civil War six years ago
when he read “The Battle Cry
of Freedom”
by
James
¡s McPherson. Since then, he
|C taught this class for three years
„ with Jackie Flowers and is now
teaching it on his own. He
' tries to teach his students criti-
t, cal thinking.
9■ Ford is also a Civil War re
enactor. Re-enactors are peo-
s pie with a love for the Civil
n War and who want to share
y their interest and teach others
i; about the war and do so by re-
enacting the battles and
lifestyle of the times, Re-
enacting is one way to get peo
ple interested and then drawn
into learning about the Civil
War, Ford says. He also says
that it’s a hobby that anyone
i can find some area they like
and can do. Such as a person
with a medical background who
researched Civil War medicine,
and practices, so to speak, at
re-enactment events.
I Ford was drawn into re
exacting through music. Some
of the members of the blue
glass band he is in also per
farmed music at balls where
attendees dressed up in period
clothing from the 1860’s, He is
now a sergeant in the Ninth
Virginia Calvary.
those
who experienced the Civil War
can give an indication of what
it must have been like to go
through that time in our histo
ry-
“If September 11 put our
country in mourning for a year,
what does four years of inter
nal struggle do?” said Ford of
the Civil War. Such a conflict
had to have a profound impact
on the people of the time.
The Civil War was a “defining
crossroads” for our country,
says Ford, but the effects of
that struggle are not limited to
the years the war took place.
In many ways, it has continued
to influence our country and
how we perceive ourselves.
In the Civil War and
Psychology class, history is
approached “in a way that you
are exploring the personalities
of historical figures and how
they influenced events,” said
Ford.
How the war impacted and
continues to impact our lives is
something that is also looked at
in the class. The class also
looks at connections with cur
rent events.
One example Ford gives is
when,“during thè course of the
2000 presidential election,
George W. Bush, in regards to
unfair voting practices, cited
the fourteenth and fifteenth
amendments, which were writ
ten after the Civil War regard-
X ing the rights
of blacks.
\
A n o t h e r\
aspect of psychol-
ogy and the Civil
(
War that can be*
linked to modern times
is in regards to symbolism.
Understanding various things
with symbolism attached to
them, such as the Confederate
flag, is part of understanding
current controversies like the
one that took place in South
Carolina a few years ago
regarding
flying
the
Confederate flag over the state
capital building.
Some of the reasons Ford
gives as to why the Civil War
and learning about it is impor
tant are that it helps us see and
understand how we perceive
ourselves and our beliefs as a
people. It also is important in
understanding the Civil Rights
movement.
“The most important thing
to me in understanding the
Civil War is what happened
afterwards,” said Ford.
The Reconstruction that
occurred directly after the war
took around 150 years to deal
with the aftereffects, Ford
says. It is something the coun
try is continuing to deal with.
Though the Civil War took
place over a century ago, the
effects of it are also present in
our lives today, and the Civil
War
and
Psychology
class can help
students see and
understand, not
place tonight from 7 to 9 p.m.
in the Gregory Forum.
Loren Ford
(shown on the
left) is an avid
re-enactor of
the Civil War.
Tonight his '
"Civil War and
Psychology”
class will co
host a musical
interpretation
of that era.
only why
things
hap
pened as they
did back then,
but how it
still
affects us
today.
“Taps: the
Civil War in
Word
and
Song,”
a
free pro-
g r a m
open
t o
the
pub
lic,
will
HANS
Used by permission