(Washington, D.C.) – The Civil War Trust announced today the release of the Civil War In4 video series and a page on its website dedicated to the project. Produced through a partnership between the Trust and Wide Awake Films, the series answers frequently asked questions about the American Civil War in a modern, digestible and digital format.
“The whole project was conceived on three principles to reach as many Civil War enthusiasts as possible: basic, simple and short,” Trust president James Lighthizer said. “Whether it’s a junior high student just beginning to learn about the war or a seasoned Civil War reader, this series is for everyone."
The series relies on a broad-strokes approach to examine the Civil War in an accessible, entertaining and factual way. Finding a means to explore each facet of the conflict in four-minute segments was a challenge for Adelman, but something he and others at the Trust felt was necessary.
“We would rather 500,000 people watch a four minute video, than 50 people watch a 40 minute video,” Trust director of history and education Garry Adelman said. “This new approach will bring the excitement and experience of learning about the Civil War to a whole new audience, who will discover why it’s so important to protect and preserve America’s hallowed ground.”
Using his experience as a longtime Civil War battlefield guide, Adelman chose topics based on typical tour questions he received, along with a variety of questions the Trust has received in the past. These topics include examinations of army organization, infantry tactics, Civil War artillery, the Western Theater of war, the United States Colored Troops, and more. An array of noted Civil War scholars lends their insights to the series, including Eric Jacobsen, Hari Jones and Peter Carmichael.
The goal is to cover compelling and basic Civil War topics that people want to know about based on countless e-mails, conversations and phone calls we’ve received,” Lighthizer said. “To do this, the series offers explanations from an all-star list of Civil War experts — many of these friends literally ‘wrote the book’ on the war.”
Currently, the Trust has produced 14 installments of the series, with plans to produce more than 50 before the project is complete. The series is available for free on the Civil War Trust’s website at www.civilwar.org/in4.
The Civil War Trust is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the United States. Its goal is to preserve our nation’s endangered Civil War sites and to promote appreciation of these hallowed grounds through education and heritage tourism. To date, the Trust has preserved more than 36,000 acres of battlefield land in 20 states. Learn more at www.civilwar.org, the home of the Civil War sesquicentennial.