South Jersey’s role in the Civil War

Burlington County Historical Society had a full house on Jan. 28, to see “The South Jersey Experience: Civil War Biographies,” the first of three panel discussions, hosted in three different New Jersey counties.
Two more performances are planned for 7 p.m., at The Salem Historical Society, 79 Market St., on Feb. 25, and at the Cape May Historical Society Museum, 504 Rt. 9 North, Cape May Court House on March 25. These discussions are free and open to the public.
Jim Stephens, deputy director for Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May, is the moderator for the discussions, and joining him are Joe Bilby, Gayle Stahlhuth, and Richard Veit.
“One of the first issues we’ll look at is dispelling the myth that Southern New Jersey sympathized with the Confederates during the Civil War,” said Stephens.
Joe Bilby, the Assistant Curator for the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey and editor of the book, “New Jersey Goes to War,” presents an entertaining slide show.
William Still, born in Burlington County, was the eighteenth child of two former slaves from the south, and as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, worked closely with Harriet Tubman.
“One of the other great stories and personalities of the war is Cape May’s Captain Henry Sawyer,” says Gayle Stahlhuth, artistic director of the East Lynne Theater Company. Stahlhuth wrote a play about Sawyer’s time as a prisoner of war and his ultimate release as a way for Cape May school students, who first performed the play, to better understand their own history.
The panel discussions will also be accompanied by a selection of period songs performed by Barry Tischler, who specializes in acoustic performances of historical songs.
The entire presentation will be filmed for a new educational DVD that will be distributed to schools, libraries, and historical societies throughout Southern New Jersey. For more information about this program, contact the Cape May Film Society at 609-884-6700 or visit www.capemayfilm.org.