To Life
April 03, 2007
Bowling
Green, Ky. -The Civil War isn’t just history for Western Kentucky University professor Judy Pierce. It’s 
living history.
Dr. Pierce makes 40-50 presentations each year in schools or at Civil War re-enactments. She may be dressed as a Confederate artillery soldier, a nurse or someone else from that era.
“I get really excited when I think about making a living history presentation or attending a re-enactment,” she said. “It helps me to come alive.”
When she comes alive with stories from the Civil War in Kentucky, members of her audience (usually elementary school children) are often on the edge of their seats.
“I try to make history exciting for them,” Dr. Pierce said.
“History is something that many children don’t like because it doesn’t seem real to them. My goal is to help children understand the world around them and why they are free today.”
Dr. Pierce will be participating again this year in the Battle of Richmond Living History Days May 10-11. She also visits schools across Kentucky and participates in other Civil War activities.
“Every living history program is different,” she said, adding that she makes presentations based on requests of each group. In recent years, Dr. Pierce has been focusing on female soldiers in the Civil War and is working several manuscripts on the role of women in the Civil War because there aren’t many children’s level books about that topic.
In her visits to fourth- or fifth-grade classrooms, Dr. Pierce strives to add depth and understanding to material covered in social studies textbooks. Her presentations expand students’ knowledge beyond the traditional Civil War topics of slavery, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Gettysburg, Fort Sumter and Appomattox Court House.
“I try to motivate children to understand that common people – people like myself, children and teachers – were involved in the Civil War,” Dr. Pierce said. “They don’t understand how the war affected families especially in Kentucky.”
Dr. Pierce has traveled to Civil War sites across Kentucky and visited several other states as she continues to conduct research and add information for her living history presentations.
She also teaches to the value of storytelling to her education students at WKU and requires them to complete an oral history project. Usually when her students interview an older family member, they learn stories about their family history and their role in state or world events.
“I love history and would love for everyone else to love it too,” Dr. Pierce said.
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
For information, contact Judy Pierce at (270) 745-4435.
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