For three days in early May, the hometown of Pennsylvania’s Civil War governor, Andrew Gregg Curtin, will host reenactors, historians, scholars, musicians, authors, cooks, actors, local amateur experts, and visitors who care enough about our Nation’s greatest conflict to explore it with others. This year, all events are free and require no registration. The Historical Museum and the Bellefonte Library will mount special Civil War exhibits to reinforce the impact of the Weekend.

The Civil War Weekend in Bellefonte will be three days of remembering and reflecting not just on our past, but on our future. Naturally, there will be examinations of battles, campaigns, and leaders. However, the social, philosophical, and political ideas that led to the conflict will also be considered, along with a frank review of how the War failed to resolve some of the issues that caused it.   

The Weekend begins on Friday with two lectures at the American Philatelic Society by local experts. Friday evening, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Professor Wilson Okello will deliver a reading of a powerful 1867 article by Frederick Douglass in the Atlantic Monthly. The article, “An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage,”  strikes at an issue still in the news today and is expressed in powerful words from the unique viewpoint of Douglass. For those who like to stretch their legs, there will be a tour of the historic Union Cemetery focusing on the Civil War soldiers and leaders buried there.

The pace picks up on Saturday with lots of action at both the American Philatelic Society and the Bellefonte Waterfront. Camp Songer, packed with Civil War civilian and military reenactors, including specialists in artillery, infantry, medicine, and embalming, will open at 9 a.m. Meanwhile, at the American Philatelic Society, eight scholars will offer two tracks of presentations to help you learn about the War. One, the Antebellum/Postbellum track, focuses on the causes and consequences of the War, and the other, the Bellum track, concentrates on military matters. Also at the American Philatelic Society, the Civil War and More bookstore will hold an all-day sale of books about the War.  There will be another tour of the Union Cemetery. In the evening, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, local Lincoln interpreter, Mike Kinney, will recreate the famous 1858 speech in which Lincoln observed that “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” He will be introduced by a historian, who will provide the context essential to understanding this moment in history.   

The Weekend winds down on Sunday. Camp Songer will remain open into the early afternoon, and there will be another tour of the Union Cemetery. An interdenominational church service will address the Christian response to the impulses that set Americans against one another.