On the other hand, living history is the art and technology of making the past seem alive by attempting to recreate selected segments. The purpose of living history is to accurately portray daily life. A living historian studies and interprets a specific role. Living historians portray just about every segment of Civil War society. They may be infantrymen or artillerymen, doctors or camp followers, musicians or civilians.
Thousands belong to organizations devoted to the study and portrayal of life during the Civil War.
These people make it possible for sites along the Discovery Trail to hold programs that give Americans an idea of what it must have been like to be a soldier or a civilian during the 1860s, and to give us some feeling for why it is so important for us to respect and honor the actions of Americans during the 19th century. Why do so many become interpreters of the Civil War. It s an obsession, says Gregg Jones of the Fourth Virginia Cavalry. Once you become interested in learning the smallest details about your chosen character, you want to read, think, do and converse with others about their impressions about that kind of individual. But it s more complicated than that.