Civil War reenactment aims to immerse students in history

The 69th New York State Volunteers Irish Brigade gave a Civil War cannon demonstration to eighth grade students at Doty Middle School on Monday, May 5. (Photo by Vince Medina)

DOWNEY — The 25th annual Civil War reenactment at Doty Middle School aimed to immerse students in history with live demonstrations and engagement on Monday.

The event was organized by eighth-grade social studies teacher at DMS, Allyson Stella. She said she started doing it by taking the kids out to the field, doing Civil War drills and marching up and down. Then, during back-to-school night, the father of one of her students offered to help himself and his friends with the reenactment.

She remembers being surprised by the level of enthusiasm from the father and his reenactment friends.

"They came out in uniform, they had a horse for cavalry and they had the cannon," said Stella. "They marched and drilled the kids, and at the end of the day, I saw how it lit up the kids. And so this snowballed to where we are now."

The reenactment now features members of the 69th New York State Volunteers, Irish Brigade, who were dressed in period attire and showed students what life would have been like during the war for soldiers fighting on the field and how the odds of dying from infection and disease were higher than dying on the battlefield.

The event also highlighted the impact of the Civil War on civilians and the home front, with discussions about women's roles, the economy and the challenges faced by families during the conflict.

They engaged the eighth graders by getting volunteers from the audience to dress in civil war, soldier, uniform, and as a woman in the 1860s.

Shane Padden Has led the volunteer brigade for 22 years. He explained his passion for getting students to engage with history.

"History is one of the most vital things I feel, and it's one of the part of the curriculum that keeps dropping away," said Padden. "All of us were immigrants at one point, so we like to kind of focus in on that and try to find one thing and connect with the kids. And if one out of the 80 students that are sitting there really gets hooked by it, we've done our job."

Students could view a demonstration of civil war, weapons and artillery, including musket and cannon. A lucky few were able to fire the cannon as well.

"Showing the kids with a live demonstration, it touches all five senses," said Padden. "You heard it, when the powder and smoke pass across your face you can taste it, you can feel the boom in your chest. It just brings it out to life."

Doty Middle School principal Scott Fleming said he always calls to notify residents in the area before the reenactment day that they should expect to hear a loud boom.

This reenactment was Stella's last. After 37 years of teaching, she is retiring this year. She shared why it is important to continue teaching students about the Civil War and why it is still relevant today.

"I think the Civil War connected us, and it was about a new birth of freedom, and that's really at the heart of this war, and why these kids need to continue to study it is because there are lessons learned from the past that we can apply today," said Stella. "Let's not backtrack. Let's look at everybody as equal and everybody has an opportunity in this country.

"The Civil War redefined who we were going to be as a nation. It's not in that moment everything changed, it was a slow progress, even 100 years later with the civil rights movement. That's why (students) need to continue to learn, because the lessons that come from the war, we can still use in our day to day."

After the reenactment, the 69th volunteer brigade lined up to give the middle school social studies teacher a 21-gun salute, firing their muskets into the air 21 times.

"There's a lot of negativity about public education these days, and I think it's important for the community to know that good things for kids are happening in our schools," said Stella. "It's not just all textbook driven, the teachers work hard to try and bring their subject to life for the kids. It concerns me greatly when I hear negativity about our schools. (The reenactment) is an example of what one specific subject does, but there are a lot of great things that are happening at our school and in the district."