Cobb commemorates Civil War Sesquicentennial
Wilbur Kurtz exhibit. Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art, 30 Atlanta St., Marietta. Southern artist and historian Wilbur Kurtz was a technical adviser for "Gone With the Wind." 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays -Fridays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays, and 1-4 p.m. Sundays through July 3. $5-$8; no charge for children under 6. mariettacobbartmuseum.org.
"The Civil War in Cobb County." Marietta Museum of History, 1 Depot St., Marietta. Visit the permanent collection of military weapons, uniforms, letters and relics and the bedroom where Andrews' Raiders met before the Great Locomotive Chase in 1862. Also: "Capturing Secession: Confederate Portraits From the David W. Vaughan Collection," June 6-Aug. 30. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. $5-$7; no charge for children under 5. mariettahistory.org.
Bleeding Gray and Blue Walking Tours. Join historian Brad Quinlin on a walking tour of former Civil War hospital sites in downtown Marietta. 11:30 a.m. Saturdays in June starting at the Marietta Museum of History, 1 Depot St. $15. mariettahistory.org.
"Gone With the Wind" 75th anniversary. June 6-8. Marietta Gone With the Wind Museum, 18 Whitlock Ave., Marietta. Also: "The Wind Has Left," a light look at the movie featuring the film's child stars. 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. June 6. Murray Art Center, 2250 Stilesboro Road, Kennesaw. $35. gwtwmarietta.com.
Juneteenth. A two-day celebration remembering the abolition of slavery in Texas in 1865. Arts, crafts, food and entertainment. 6-11 p.m. June 13 and 10 a.m.-7 p.m. June 14. Glover Park, Marietta Square. Free. cobbnaacp.org.
"Civil War, a Musical Experience." 8 p.m. June 20 and 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. June 21. Earl Smith Strand Theatre, Marietta Square. $15-$20. earlsmithstrand.org.
Re-enactor camp on the Square. Battle re-enactors and encampments in and around the Marietta Square all day, June 20-22 and June 27-29. Free. mariettacivilwar.com.
Confederate cemetery tour. Marietta Confederate Cemetery, 395 Powder Springs St., Marietta. Friends of Brown Park preservation group will take visitors on living history tours 1-4:30 p.m. June 22. Free. mariettacivilwar.com.
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. June 26-29. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, 900 Kennesaw Mountain Drive, Kennesaw. 150th anniversary commemoration starts with opening ceremonies 7:30 p.m. June 26 at Visitor Center off Old 41 Highway. Activities run 9 a.m.-7 p.m. June 27-29, including Confederate artillery demonstrations, cannon firing, 24-gun battery, ranger-led programs, Civil War medicine and military activity tents, Confederate and Union soldier encampments and children's activities. Free. nps.gov/kemo/index.htm.
Real-time hike at Cheatham Hill. Hike follows the Dead Angle Assault by Union soldiers in 1864. Walk starts at 9 a.m. June 27 at the national park parking lot on Cheatham Hill Road. Free shuttles to the hike from Marietta High School, 1171 Whitlock Ave.
Illinois Monument re-dedication. June 28. National park section off Dallas Highway, Marietta. Ceremony at 8:30 p.m. followed by speakers and lighting of 3,100 luminaries at 9 p.m.
Virginia's Civil War 150 HistoryMobile. Interactive museum-on-wheels tells the story of the Civil War from the perspective of those who experienced it. Parks at Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History noon-7 p.m. June 26 and 1-8 p.m. June 27. 2829 Cherokee St., Kennesaw. Also: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. June 28 and noon-7 p.m. June 29 on the Marietta Square.
A Civil War battle waged 150 years ago in what is now suburban Cobb County will be remembered next month in a series of events that will reach beyond re-enactments and cannon fire.
The city of Marietta joined forces with Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park to coordinate sesquicentennial activities around Marietta, including the park’s June 26-29 commemoration of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain in 1864.
Park Superintendent Nancy Walther said she expects attendance of 60,000 or more. She sees the anniversary weekend as an opportunity to inform locals and tourists about the unique history of the nearly 3,000-acre park. She also hopes children’s activities will inspire the next generation of preservationists.
Walther noted that a map of the park shows adjacent property that has been lost in recent years to private developers. However, a 42-acre tract off Dallas Highway next to the park’s west boundary was donated to the park last year by the U.S. Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The property, a battle site where Confederate Gen. Joseph Johnston tried to stop the advance of Gen. William T. Sherman’s troops in June 1864, is marked by Union entrenchments, rifle pits and a cannon placement.
“The 150th (anniversary) only comes once,” Walther said. “It gives us an opportunity to tell people about what happened here and how important it is to save the land where history happened.”
Park planning for the commemoration included logistics for moving large crowds through a historic battlefield site. The sprawling park has limited parking and there is a winding climb to the top of Kennesaw Mountain, where some events will be held. The park plans to run shuttles from overflow parking lots and nearby schools to event sites around the park and to the top of the mountain.
Other Civil War Sesquicentennial events are planned around Marietta Square in June.
The city’s final event, planned for Nov.13-15, will remember the burning of downtown Marietta in November 1864.
Marietta City Manager Bill Bruton said he expects the city will see an economic boost from visitors attending events and an increase in heritage tourism from the area’s historic attractions. The city has many newcomers who don’t know the area’s history, he said.
“The past helps us learn why we are the way we are,” Bruton said. “We want to bring the historical relevance to the front, and that means looking at our black as well as white history.”
Two years ago, the city of Marietta formed a committee of 20 black and white leaders to shape a yearlong commemoration that started in September with the premiere of a film,”Kennesaw: One Last Mountain,” at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre on Marietta Square. The 35-minute movie runs throughout the day at the battlefield’s Visitor Center.
Included in a city packet of events is a black heritage walking tour around Marietta featuring the Old Zion Heritage Museum at a church founded by freed slaves in 1866. The guide also lists the burial site of 258 soldiers in the U.S. Colored Troops section at the Marietta National Cemetery a few blocks east of the Square. Emma Stephenson, an emancipated slave and 17th Army Corps nurse who took care of wounded soldiers at Marietta Civil War hospitals, also is buried at the cemetery, as are five Native Americans who died at Kennesaw Mountain.
About 10,312 Union soldiers are buried at the national cemetery, including those who fell fighting at Cheatham Hill and Kennesaw Mountain during the Atlanta Campaign. South of the Marietta Square is the Confederate Cemetery, where more than 3,000 soldiers from 14 Confederate states are buried.
Civil War historian Brad Quinlin said that, next to the Revolutionary War, the Civil War was the most crucial time in our history.
“The controversy of the war makes it important today,” Quinlin said. “I want people to realize the sacrifices that were made and the stories of the men who fought and also died here.”
Michael Shaffer of Kennesaw State University’s Center for the Study of the Civil War said the battle at Kennesaw Mountain was pivotal in reversing fortunes for the Union Army. After Kennesaw Mountain, he said, Sherman moved on to take Atlanta.
“On the heels of that victory, Confederate morale was low and the North was rejuvenated,” Shaffer said. “The fall of Atlanta led to President Lincoln’s re-election and Sherman’s unimpeded march to the sea.”
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