On May 17th, Kerri Waldo, wife of SCV Camp 1524 Commander Stuart Waldo, visited Alabama Christian Academy's
4th grade class. During her visit, Mrs. Waldo shared with the 40 fourth graders
what life was like during the Confederate years in Alabama. Topics of
conversation included specifics as to how it was to be a child during the antebellum and War eras.
Many topics were covered including transportation,
illnesses, the war, and more. The kids particularly enjoyed the topic of the
types of food that were consumed during those years as Mrs Waldo brought with
her some foods that replicated those from the 19th century. The favorites were beef jerky to
represent the dried meats and sliced apples to represent the crops that the
families had to grow themselves.
It was important for the kids to understand that life for
them now compared to life for kids during that period 155 years ago was much different. Children during the 19th century in the South would only go to school for part of the day and would
likely spend the rest of the day working on their family's farms or plantations from a very young
age. Some of the kids indicated that they would rather have that life instead
of going to school all day every day. The teachers disagreed with this and believed
that these kids would likely not have survived life in that era--especially
since there was no access to air conditioning nor video games!
Popular games of the time were also presented including some
of the games that are still popular today such as marbles, dominoes, jump
ropes, and hopscotch, etc. One of the fun facts that was discussed were the
most popular names of the era for boys and girls. And there were even three
children in the class who shared names that were still popular today (Elizabeth
and James).
Fun was had by all during the visit and the children asked a
lot of really important questions about what it meant to be a child during the
Confederate years and what it means to appreciate the lives that they have
today.
At the end of the visit, the children came up and observed
Mrs. Waldo's period correct gown. Of particular interest was the type of fabric
and the hoop skirt. The girls in the class agreed that it was unfair that
girls and women had to wear such uncomfortable clothing while boys and men were
allowed to wear shorts and pants.
One of the girls asked Mrs. Waldo, "Are you
supposed to be a Southern Belle?" Mrs. Waldo told her that she is still a
southern belle and that many important traditions in the South still live on
today.
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