Saturday, September 14, 2002

GPTV Brings The Civil War to Life

On September 22, 2002 Ken Burns' The Civil War will return to GPTV. This series, the most-watched on PBS ever, features narrator David McCullough; archival photographs and period paintings; newsreel footage of Civil War veterans; live cinematography of battle sites; interviews with eminent historians; and readings from diaries, letters, speeches, and newspapers of the era.

To complement this series and tell the story of the Civil War from a local perspective, Georgia Public Television has developed a companion series, Georgia's Civil War. This four-part series of thirty-minute programs tells the story of The Civil War through the eyes of the Georgians who lived through it and died fighting it. The series pays special attention to the first two years of the war, the Atlanta campaign, and Sherman's March to the Sea.

Georgia's Civil War uses first person accounts to tell the story of the war. Some of the people whose stories it shares are:

* Carrie Berry - the 10-year-old daughter of a Unionist sympathizer in Atlanta;
* William Daniel Dixon - a sergeant in the Republican Blues, a Savannah Regiment;
* Samuel Richard - an Atlanta bookseller; and
* The Jones Family - a family from Liberty County on the Georgia coast.

Present-day Georgians also tell their family stories, passed down through the generations. Archival photos, maps, drawings and paintings, creative reenactments, and footage of historic sites enrich each story and bring this period of Georgia's history to life.

Be sure to tune in to both The Civil War and Georgia's Civil War on GPTV in September. Check your local listings for air dates and times.