Spring local history series to feature program in Civil War care packages
Published 9:40 am Tuesday, May 7, 2019
- Ted and Faye Chamberlain are pictured dressed in period attire. Faye will host a presentation Thursday on Civil War care packages. (Submitted photo)
NILES — The Niles History Center and Niles District Library are partnering to host a program called Boxes for Civil War Soldiers: Comfort from Home.
The program will be presented by Faye Chamberlain at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Niles District Library.
Chamberlain will dress in period attire and discuss what families sent to soldiers during the Civil War.
After the surrender of Fort Sumter in April of 1861, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to serve in the military for three months. Michigan was one of the first states to fill their quota. In Berrien County, the first company organized for service in the Civil War formed in Niles under the leadership of Captain Robert Brethschneider.
Throughout the war, people on the home front sent packages to soldiers. Military men looked forward to correspondence from family members, along with packages carrying reading materials, food, clothing and other items to remind them of home. Chamberlain has researched Civil War care packages extensively and is well-versed in domestic life and activities which were happening while the men were away at war. At the program, she will display reproduction items she has put together through her living history work.
Chamberlain was born in Georgia and raised in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Her professional career includes serving as administrative assistant for economist Milton Friedman in Chicago and to a university provost in California.
She now resides in St. Joseph with her husband, Ted. The Chamberlains are avid Civil War reenactors. Together, they portray General Joshua Chamberlain and his wife, Fanny, at events and programs throughout the country. Ted is a cousin of General Joshua Chamberlain of the 20th Maine Infantry.
The program is part of the spring local history series offered by the Niles District Library and Niles History Center. Refreshments will be served, sponsored by the Friends of the Niles District Library and History Center. Admission is free, though donations will be accepted to help support the program. For more information, people can call the Niles District Library at (269) 683-8545 or the Niles History Center at (269) 845-4054.
