www.history.ky.gov

Connections. Perspective. Inspiration.

100 West Broadway • Frankfort, KY • 40601 • 502.564.1792 • www.history.ky.gov

The Kentucky Historical Society is an agency of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.

Annie McCarroll Starling - Laura BlakeBlake is pleased to return to the Kentucky Historical Society to work with the Museum Theatre program. Other credits include “Lincoln’s Life Through Kentucky Eyes” and “Jack Hunts Christmas.” Blake, who recently completed her doctorate in education leadership at the University of Kentucky, is employed at The Lexington School.

Director– Adam LuckeySince graduating from Georgetown College, Luckey has worked extensively with many of the theatres in the bluegrass. He lives in Lexington and serves as a Museum Theatre specialist at the Kentucky Historical Society.

Suggested Reading:Clinton, Catherine, ed. “Southern Families at War: Loyalty and Conflict in the Civil War South.” New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000.McDevitt, Theresa. “Women and the American Civil War: An Annotated Bibliography.” Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003.Taylor, Amy Murrell. “The Divided Family in Civil War America.” Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2005. Werner, Emmy E. “Reluctant Witnesses: Children’s Voices from the Civil War.” Jackson, TN: Westview Press, 1998. Stanchack, John. “Eyewitness: Civil War.” New York, 2000.

This production explores all four years of the Civil War through the eyes of Annie Leslie McCarroll (Feb. 29, 1844-Aug. 21, 1932), a young woman living in Hopkinsville, Ky. McCarroll began keeping journals at the outset of the war, when she was just 17. The daughter of Hopkinsville physician and surgeon John McCarroll and Eliza Kelly McCarroll, her family was strongly pro-Union and did not own slaves.

Many families in Christian County, however, were divided over the issues of the war. Generally, slave owning farmers in the southern part of the county sympathized with the Confederates. Several citizens in Hopkinsville and the northern part of the county supported the Union. The county was both the home of James S. Jackson, a Union general, and the birthplace of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate states.

Comprised of excerpts of McCarroll’s diaries, the romantic language of “Dear Friend” reflects the elegant style of the period. McCarroll, who comes of age during the Civil War, recounts local war news and describes the comings and goings of various armies in southern Kentucky. McCarroll’s fears and concerns for loved ones, as well as her accounts of confusion and excitement-filled courtship rituals, provide a unique perspective of the Civil War period.

Glossary

Artillery: weapons for discharging missiles. Camp: area where temporary military headquarters and shelters are erected.Cavalry: soldiers on horseback.Confederate: of or relating to the Confederate States of America, or the South. Conscript: to draft or enroll into military service by compulsion or force.Consigned: given over into another’s care.Federal: of or relating to the United States of America, or the North.Guard house: jail.Rebel: nickname for Confederate troops and their supporters.Regiment: a military unit consisting of smaller divisions.Report of cannons: sound of cannons being fired.Secession: formal withdrawal from an organization or nation.Stars and Stripes: nickname for the American flag.Subjugated: forced to submit to control or governance.Union: the United States government or army.Volleys of musketry: rounds of ammunition fired from a soldier’s firearm.Yankee: nickname for northern troops.

KHS Museum TheatreSince 1998, the Museum Theatre program has staged more than 40 original productions often inspired by the rich resources in the Kentucky Historical Society collections. Each play is presented within KHS exhibition spaces, and designed to connect audiences with the sights, sounds and stories of the past. These professional productions provide museum visitors with a personal perspective of historical characters and encourage them to explore the exhibitions to learn more. Audience members often find they relate to the story itself. What’s your story?

Photo credits: (inside, left) Union Army officers, Crittenden & Starling family album. Nicola Marschall family, ca. 1859. Major Hart, c. 1962. Bailey-Hart-St. Clair Family Photographs. (inside right) National Color, 15th Kentucky, U.S. and 10th Kentucky Cavalry Confederate 1st National (original red and white stripes have faded) from the KHS Kentucky Military History Museum Collection.

Special Thanks: Mike Thomas-original director and co-writer, Sarah Gillig-original actor and co-writer

This production explores all four years of the Civil War through the eyes of Annie Leslie McCarroll (Feb. 29, 1844-Aug. 21, 1932), a young woman living in Hopkinsville, Ky. McCarroll began keeping journals at the outset of the war, when she was just 17. The daughter of Hopkinsville physician and surgeon John McCarroll and Eliza Kelly McCarroll, her family was strongly pro-Union and did not own slaves.

Many families in Christian County, however, were divided over the issues of the war. Generally, slave owning farmers in the southern part of the county sympathized with the Confederates. Several citizens in Hopkinsville and the northern part of the county supported the Union. The county was both the home of James S. Jackson, a Union general, and the birthplace of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate states.

Comprised of excerpts of McCarroll’s diaries, the romantic language of “Dear Friend” reflects the elegant style of the period. McCarroll, who comes of age during the Civil War, recounts local war news and describes the comings and goings of various armies in southern Kentucky. McCarroll’s fears and concerns for loved ones, as well as her accounts of confusion and excitement-filled courtship rituals, provide a unique perspective of the Civil War period.

Glossary

Artillery: weapons for discharging missiles. Camp: area where temporary military headquarters and shelters are erected.Cavalry: soldiers on horseback.Confederate: of or relating to the Confederate States of America, or the South. Conscript: to draft or enroll into military service by compulsion or force.Consigned: given over into another’s care.Federal: of or relating to the United States of America, or the North.Guard house: jail.Rebel: nickname for Confederate troops and their supporters.Regiment: a military unit consisting of smaller divisions.Report of cannons: sound of cannons being fired.Secession: formal withdrawal from an organization or nation.Stars and Stripes: nickname for the American flag.Subjugated: forced to submit to control or governance.Union: the United States government or army.Volleys of musketry: rounds of ammunition fired from a soldier’s firearm.Yankee: nickname for northern troops.

KHS Museum TheatreSince 1998, the Museum Theatre program has staged more than 40 original productions often inspired by the rich resources in the Kentucky Historical Society collections. Each play is presented within KHS exhibition spaces, and designed to connect audiences with the sights, sounds and stories of the past. These professional productions provide museum visitors with a personal perspective of historical characters and encourage them to explore the exhibitions to learn more. Audience members often find they relate to the story itself. What’s your story?

Photo credits: (inside, left) Union Army officers, Crittenden & Starling family album. Nicola Marschall family, ca. 1859. Major Hart, c. 1962. Bailey-Hart-St. Clair Family Photographs. (inside right) National Color, 15th Kentucky, U.S. and 10th Kentucky Cavalry Confederate 1st National (original red and white stripes have faded) from the KHS Kentucky Military History Museum Collection.

Special Thanks: Mike Thomas-original director and co-writer, Sarah Gillig-original actor and co-writer

www.history.ky.gov

Connections. Perspective. Inspiration.

100 West Broadway • Frankfort, KY • 40601 • 502.564.1792 • www.history.ky.gov

The Kentucky Historical Society is an agency of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.

Annie McCarroll Starling - Laura BlakeBlake is pleased to return to the Kentucky Historical Society to work with the Museum Theatre program. Other credits include “Lincoln’s Life Through Kentucky Eyes” and “Jack Hunts Christmas.” Blake, who recently completed her doctorate in education leadership at the University of Kentucky, is employed at The Lexington School.

Director– Adam LuckeySince graduating from Georgetown College, Luckey has worked extensively with many of the theatres in the bluegrass. He lives in Lexington and serves as a Museum Theatre specialist at the Kentucky Historical Society.

Suggested Reading:Clinton, Catherine, ed. “Southern Families at War: Loyalty and Conflict in the Civil War South.” New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000.McDevitt, Theresa. “Women and the American Civil War: An Annotated Bibliography.” Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003.Taylor, Amy Murrell. “The Divided Family in Civil War America.” Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2005. Werner, Emmy E. “Reluctant Witnesses: Children’s Voices from the Civil War.” Jackson, TN: Westview Press, 1998. Stanchack, John. “Eyewitness: Civil War.” New York, 2000.