'All About Kent' and the Civil War

“There is nothing civil about this war but the name,” wrote a 20-year-old Adam Weaver in a letter to his sweetheart, Charlotte Morton, while fighting as a union soldier in the Civil War.

Weaver and Morton lived in Franklin Mills, the community that would later be renamed Kent. The observations and emotions that they recorded in letters and diaries during the Civil War period are the basis for an upcoming “All About Kent” series program at 7 p.m. May 17. It will be held at KSU’s Rockwell Auditorium, 515 Hilltop Drive, at Lincoln and Main streets.

The staged theatrical reading, entitled “Charlotte and Adam: Franklin Mills and the Civil War,” was written by Sandra Perlman Halem, president of the board of trustees, and is directed by Sarah Coon, a student in the Theatre Department.

 “Since the ‘All About Kent’ series had been searching for something local to connect our audience to the 150th commemoration of the Civil War, adapting these actual letters into a dramatic reading seemed to offer a perfect marriage of history and art,” Halem said.

And by offering a cooperative program with the Kent State Museum, the audience will not only have the opportunity to enjoy a play about Kent's history, but also will be able to visit the museum’s current exhibit, entitled “” at no charge that night.

On the Home Front focuses on the daily life and experiences of the American civilian population during the Civil War and in the years immediately following. The pieces on exhibit, including women’s and children’s costumes, supplemented with related photographs, decorative arts and women’s magazines are organized thematically.

One of the highlights of the exhibit is the Keckley quilt, made by Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, a former slave who served as Mary Todd Lincoln’s dressmaker. The quilt is believed to have been made from scraps of Mrs. Lincoln’s dresses.