10A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2007
LAWRENCE HISTORY
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Filmmaker preserves Quantrill's Raid
Museum Commemorates Civil War
Actors honor the victims of Quantrill's raid Tuesday night in South Park. The actors dressed in Civil War-era attire and posed as friends and family of the deceased
BY SASHA ROE
sroe@kansan.com
On Aug. 21, 1863, Lawrence experienced the worst civilian massacre of the Civil War. The Watkins Community Museum of History still recognizes Lawrence's historical role in the war. The museum held "The Civil War on the Western Frontier" events for the past 12 days. The events ended Tuesday after a special discussion with Ken Spurgeon, a filmmaker who recently
finished a documentary on William C. Quantrill's raid on Lawrence 144 years ago.
"These Civil War events are the largest for the museum," said Kerry Lippincott, museum curator, "But this final night with Ken's documentary is a good way to go out with a bang."
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Spurgeon talked to the crowd about his upcoming documentary, "Bloody Dawn: The Lawrence Massacre." The film tells the story of William C. Quantrill'sraid through
Jon Goering/KANSAN
An actor posing as a Civil War-era minister delivers a speech during a candlelight vigil in South Park Tuesday night. A movie about the raid titled "Bloody Dawn: The Lawrence Massacre" is set to open Nov. 1 at Liberty Hall.
Lawrence on Aug. 21, 1863. The raid consisted of 450 pro-slavery soldiers who killed about 180 men
in the bloodiest civilian attack of the Civil War according to historians.
Spurgeon has taught history at both high school and college levels. He said as a teacher he was always shocked about how many
students came into his classroom and didn't know anything about the Lawrence raid.
"I wanted to make these stories
become known," Spurgeon said.
Spurgeon called the film a "docudrama." He said the film
"These Civil War events are the largest for the museum."
KERRY LIPPINCOTT MUSEUM CURATOR
commentary. The film will debut at Liberty Hall Nov. 1 before traveling around the state for 10 to 12 screenings. Spurgeon said he was excited
said the film would begin with historians explaining the motivation behind and execution of Quantrill's raid. He said it would be followed with 20 to 30 minutes of scenes of the raid without
to see all the hard work that went into the film.
"Filming is a huge task," Spurgeon said. "Every detail is essential."
Spurgeon said the documentary was filmed on a Butler County ranch. Buildings were reconstructed to resemble those in Lawrence at the time of the raid including two floors of the Eldridge Hotel. The film's narrator is Buck Taylor, an actor from the television show "Gunsmoke" and the movie "Tombstone."
Spurgeon's daughter, Lauren Spurgeon, Andover sophomore, enjoys helping her father when she can. She said she has played an extra in two of his films and has assisted at lectures. She said her family has
always had an interest in history and the role of Lawrence in the Civil War.
"My dad has always been very passionate about history," Spurgeon said. "I probably am not as interested as he is, but I do enjoy it and think it's a neat story."
Audience members watched a short teaser for the documentary before going to a candlelight vigil in South Park. At the vigil names of all the known victims in Quantrill's raid were read as historical reenactors portrayed the event. The Watkins Community Museum of History has done "The Civil War on the Western Frontier" events for the past 12 years.
Edited by Rachael Gray
Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau and State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said their offices each would investigate the cause of the blaze.
"Nobody at this point knows whether that was a contributing factor to the two tragic deaths or not. That's what an investigation is for," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
to fight the fire Saturday on the 17th floor.
Meanwhile, several agencies
INVESTIGATION Police look into cause of fire that killed two firefighters
The standpipe pumped thousands of gallons into the basement, leaving firefighters without enough water
NEW YORK --- Prosecutors opened a criminal Investigation Tuesday into the blaze that killed two firefighters at a ground zero skyscraper that had a broken water supply system as it was being dismantled.
LAUREN BYERS CHRISTINE LASKOWSKI
KASEY CLEMENTS KATIE LINDUSKA
JEN DALY LAURA MEREDITH
LAURA DEVLIN LIZ MILLER
ERICA ESLINGER ALYSSA MORRIS
KELSEY GIBBONS QUYNH PHAM
JESI GORDON LAURA QUENETTE
SARAH GROKETT BRITTINE RAYBERN
JORDYN GUNVILLE KATIE SACHS
MAGGIE HACKNEY KATIE SHERWOOD
HILLARY HENDRICKS KATIE STANTON
RACHEL HERNANDEZ JANET SUMMERFELT
KATY HOFFMAN VERONICA THOMPSON
CALLIE INGRAM KATE WIENS
SANDY JOHNSON DANA ZALTA
SHELBY KUESER
ALPHAGAMMADELTA The Perfect Fit
sought to deflect blame for the building's failed water supply system the response to the fire and who was responsible for inspecting the tower
State officials who own the building said the tower wasn't equipped with a city sprinkler system because environmental regulators had ordered that they not be in the building, which still contains multiple floors of asbestos, lead and World Trade Center dust.
"Every step that we take in this building is overseen by multiple layers of regulation from the federal to the local level," said Errol Cockfield, spokesman for the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which bought the building three years ago.
LIBERTY HALL accessibility info
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(763) 749-1922
641-849 www.libertyhall.org
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