GAINESVILLE - A merchant in downtown Gainesville's historic business district wants people to learn, understand, and remember what it was like for the common soldier of the Civil War and, just in time for the 150th anniversary of the start of the war, has erected a display he hopes will help you to do so.
Don Griffin at Frames You-Nique on the square says it's time to put aside the politics that fanned the flames of that conflict that lasted a full four years and examine how it affected the soldiers, both north and south, who fought that war, and how it affected their women.
"I want to encourage people to look at the individual soldier," Griffin said. "Not the leaders, not the politics of the war, but what the soldiers who fought it actually went through on both sides, men and women, not just on the front lines, but on the home front as well. People forget how those people sacrificed."
The Frames You-Nique front window contains maps and posters that trace the conflict as well as accurate figurines that depict how soldiers and officers appeared. Inside visitors will find a wide selection of books on the war and numerous full color artist prints showing battle and camp scenes.
"We have the Encyclopedia of the Confederacy, Strange Facts of the Civil War, among others, and art work by Mort Kunstler and Don Troiani, both well known Civil War artists. We also have a couple of works by John Paul Strain," Griffin said. "They show the everyday life of the soldier, mostly in combat but in some prints they are not in combat."
Griffin, with the 150th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter coming next Tuesday, April 12th, hopes to commemorate, not celebrate, the nation's costliest war that killed nearly 700,000 Americans. Griffin plans to update the display according to what was going on a century and a half ago.
"As the anniversaries of the battles come up we'll try to have something that will update it to that particular event that took place during the war," he said.
The Civil War window display is available for view any time on the square. Frames You-Nique is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is another in an occasional series AccessNorthGa.com will publish this year marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Some will be generated by the Associated Press. Others will be the work of AccessNorthGa.com reporters, with an emphasis on northeast Georgia's role in the war and the impact it had on our region. Ken Stanford, AccessNorthGa.com Newsroom Manager.)
Monday
October 14th, 2024
10:23AM
