>at times like those I'm too deeply moved about what I
know really happened in those sacred places to want to interact with anyone
in a period costume -- in the same way, I suppose, that when attending the
funeral of someone I knew and loved, I embrace the liturgy, music, prayers,
and silence rather than the efforts of some clergyperson imposing his or
her interpretation on the life of someone he or she may never have know.
But that's just me. . . .

That's beautifully written and eloquently put. However, there is a slight
difference between your analogy and historical interpretation: everyone at
the funeral has had some previous experience and presumably fond memories of
the one who has passed. This isn't the case for visitors at the respective
museums and/or battlefields - many may have only passing knowledge (if that)
about the subjects at hand. Combine that scenario with today's technology
and an increasingly interactive world and you have the reasoning for the
creation of this method of historical interpretation and why curators and
directors may urge it's implementation - for better or for worse. Does the
widow who loved a man for fifty years condemn the clergy for offering a
eulogy that doesn't reach the depths of her knowledge? I think the same
could be said here of Lafantasie's article. I know of a well-read,
mild-mannered lawyer whose idea of a "fun" vacation for the past ten years
is to dress in the same wool uniform for two weeks, live off her camp kit,
battle bugs, and rain while traipsing through the woods with hundreds of her
closest comrades before ending the march in a re-enacted battle or skirmish
all under the July or August heat of Pennsylvania or Virginia. She insists
that nothing be done that wasn't available to a Confederate private in the
1860's. I would stack her knowledge of the Civil War at the tactical,
operational, and strategic level up against anyone. She knows field life of
a moving army because she's lived it - for "fun" - as a hobby. I've met many
who, though not as dedicated, were not slouches to the underlying history.
Are these the exceptions rather than the rule? Possibly.  But it's certainly
not worthy of derision.

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