A Confederate Texas love story almost 150 years old, written in scribbled lines on well-worn paper, will be the basis of one of several free presentations set for local observances of Cultural Heritage Preservation Week 2011.

Eric Ames, Waco historian and digital collections consultant for the Resources and Collection Management Services at Baylor University — its e-library — will present readings from the Guthrie Civil War Letters as his contribution to activities surrounding Preservation Week from April 25-30.

Fragile textiles, such as these vintage uniforms from the Union and Confederacy, are on display this year at the Fort House Museum.
Historic Waco Foundation photo

A curator of Historic Waco Foundation displays a necklace from The Heritage Collection.
Historic Waco Foundation photo

To commemorate the sesquicentennial of the start of the American Civil War, the theme for event is “Our Bonds of Affection: Stories from the Civil War.”

The title evokes President Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address, delivered five weeks before the first shots rang out from rebel guns aimed at Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, S.C.

The 16th president of the United States sought in vain to dissuade his fellow countrymen from bloodshed that would flow for more than four years.

But the “bonds of affection” also refer to the kinds of treasured artifacts passed down from generation to generation, Ames said. They include letters penned by a great-great grandparent, a sepia-toned photograph of a distant kinsman or a quilt lovingly crafted by a very important personage of family past.

And the Guthrie Collection is a trove of Civil War minutiae fascinating not just to scholars but also other people swept up in the drama of the times, Ames said.

The correspondence of an East Texas officer of the Confederacy to the young lady he courted throughout the war from afar helps history come alive and reach a new audience.

Ames is the electronic library’s information specialist who started scanning, transcribing and uploading the Guthrie letters more than three years ago for Baylor. He said he will share excerpts from them at 7 p.m. April 26 at the West Waco Library and Genealogy Center.

The letters, he said, are filled with romance, intrigue, eyewitness accounts of battlefield horrors, trivia on 19th-century military life and even some glimpses of humor.

Ames said he hopes that through sharing the correspondence of the couple that he will inspire other residents to treasure what they may have lying about their attics or storage sheds.

For more information on Preservation Week activities, contact Ames at eric_ames@baylor.edu or 254-710-1576.

tjryan@wacotrib.com

757-5746

Preservation workshops

All events of Cultural Heritage Preservation Week 2011 will take place at West Waco Library and Genealogy Center, 5301 Bosque Blvd., Suite 275.

•  7 p.m. April 25

“Family Heirlooms from 1860 to 1900 and Their Preservation”

Members of the Central Texas Genealogical Society and others will showcase items passed down to them and share the tales, as well as what they have done to preserve the items, in this show-and-tell program.

•  7 p.m. April 26

The letters exchanged by Confederate supply officer Maj. J.N. Coleman of the Third Texas Cavalry and his fiancée, Virginia E. “Jennie” Adkins, of Marshall, illustrate the ingenuity of young lovers. To save scarce paper, the reply to one letter was written at an angle 90 degrees to the original, in another color ink.
Baylor University Digital Collection

“The Power of Paper: The Importance of the Printed Word

Eric Ames of Baylor University and colleagues will explore the written record of the Civil War through letter readings, followed by a discussion of the importance of preserving family stories. Ames will highlight the use of digitization as a preservation strategy that also allows greater access.

•  7 p.m. April 28

“Waco and the Civil War: The Fabric of a Community”

Holly Browning, curator of collections and interpretation for Historic Waco Foundation, presents lives of the men who built the HWF homes and Waco’s role in the War Between the States. Experts in textile preservation will be available to give advice on the care of quilts, flags, dresses and other vintage fabrics.

•  7 p.m. April 29

“150 Years of Dust, Rust and Oil: Saving Civil War Family Heirlooms for the Next Generation”

Joe Walker of Fort Worth’s Texas Civil War Museum presents advice on the care of family heirlooms inherited from Confederate and Union ancestors, with recommendations on methods and products used to counter environmental degradation on metal, wood and leather goods.

•  2-5 p.m. April 30

“Identification and Preservation of Old Photographs”

David Coleman, photo curator at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, lends his expertise in identifying several 19th- and early 20th-century process types for photographs. He will advise how to preserve vintage images for future generations.