The last couple of months have been a whirlwind of activity. Marilyn and I have said for years that this battlefield needed a Friends group. With the widespread attention it is now receiving, this just seemed like the right time to do it. . An attorney-friend helped by drawing up the papers to become a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, our CPA, Tommy Youngblood, agreed to serve on the board as did Hope Calhoun from Mansfield, a committed preservationist. Our friends at Community Bank provided us with a checking account with no monthly fee. And here we are…so much has happened since the first of the year. So many people have been involved, encouraging this initiative, giving moral support. . .and offering financial support. That last thing is very important. We paid for the incorporation of the nonprofit group and put in some money to start the account, but we knew we could not afford the keep it going.

The first goal of this group was to secure a membership base. Obviously, without members and their support it would be impossible to achieve the overall goals of preservation and education. We have to give a special “thank you” to the Austin Civil War Round Table for their dedication to this project and for extra financial support. And this group was gently pushed along with the encouragement of the Civil War Preservation Trust.

Marilyn and I started this group from our house and office with our own personal resources. But, thankfully, it is now bigger than us. We truly appreciate knowing that so many of you who are interested in historic preservation are willing to “put your money where your mouth is.” We have given what we could of time and money – but there is more to do than we could accomplish alone. Together, we are making a difference.

Our First Mailing Worked!

We sent out our initial membership mailing in April (anniversary of the battle) with the support of the Austin Civil War Round Table. The mail began coming in within days! That told us immediately that this group could be successful. Memberships have poured in from Louisiana and Texas. They have come from senior citizens on fixed incomes and students who gave what they could. We’ve heard from men and women and from north and south. We’ve heard from organizations and businesses, from academics and history buffs. We’ve received memberships from friends and neighbors and from colleagues. And the mail continues to bring new members to our group. We are especially appreciative of the Civil War Preservation Trust and of the support we have received from Jerry Russell with HeritagePac. The networking is fabulous. In fact, we have signed up our most distant member in Belgium, the historian of the Polignac family, as a result of networking.

In terms of preservation, we’re making waves and getting attention. Newspapers in both Baton Rouge (state capital) and Shreveport (nearest big city) have taken an editorial stance in favor of preserving the site. Louisiana Governor Mike Foster was questioned about it on his weekly call-in show – and had an answer ready. That tells us someone had talked to him about it. Foster is a lame duck with a pirogue-full of contenders for the top spot in Louisiana. Among those is Lt. Governor Kathleen Blanco (who is also responsible for tourism). Anything you can do to bring this issue to the attention of legislators and leaders will be appreciated.

An Intern on Board

This summer, the Friends will have an intern to help with organizational activities and projects. The Austin Civil War Round Table suggested this and, again, stepped forward to fund the salary. (Didn’t we say it pays to have friends?) Our intern is an impressive young woman who has been recognized as the top history student from LSU in Shreveport for the past two years. She received her bachelor’s degree in May and will begin graduate studies this fall. We are pleased to welcome Jennifer Grayson. She will be helping with some of the tasks that I have been working on at the park and will be a critical support person for us in this early stage of our existence. Having her with us this summer will allow Marilyn and me to take a short vacation after I teach summer school in June. (I have a book signing in Maine in July at the 20th Maine Book Store in Freeport.) If you have ideas that need to be brought to the attention of the organization, this is a good time to contact us.

Preservation in Progress

We have been working with the Civil War Preservation Trust and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to secure farmland/ranchland easement for the first time ever in Louisiana. This is the result of a Congressional act designed to protect rural farm and ranch land. It must be open pasture, preferably a working farm, and was created to protect the integrity of the land from development. This is one of three locations in the nation where this act is being used to help save historic civil war properties. The land that we have proposed will be a partnership between the landowner, the Friends and the CWPT and contains 60 acres adjacent to the park in the heart of the battlefield. For the first time, this will protect an area of the Confederate charge. Activities previously initiated focused on Union lines of battle.

First Purchase for Historic Site

The Friends have purchased a digital camera for the Mansfield State Historic Site, the first of what we hope will be many donations. This will be helpful to the staff at the battlefield as they record activities and will help with projects. We also plan to purchase a carbine. They were thrilled to have us provide them with something so useful—and just months after we secured our first Friends! We’ve asked them to provide us with a wish list, and the board will be evaluating what we can do. We must be able to tell the story to visitors in a way that grabs their attention. Mansfield is one of the historic sites promoted by the Louisiana Department of Tourism. Sadly, most attention for Louisiana tourism goes to south Louisiana. It’s not that we don’t realize the tourism value of the wonderful tourist attractions in south Louisiana, it’s just that attractions in the northern part of the state have never really attracted much attention. We’ve recently heard that state cutbacks will likely eliminate the historic site’s purchase of a new computer. An updated computer is a very important link. If you have a contact with a computer manufacturer or retailer that would donate a new computer or if you know of a grant that might offer funding for a computer, please contact us. If you have any artifacts that might be appropriate for the museum at Mansfield, let us know about them as well.

Web Site in Progress -- Do We Have Your E-Mail Address?

We are currently working on development of a Web site that we hope will be functional this summer. We hope this will allow those of you are have computers to keep up with activities at the Mansfield State Historic Site and will keep you up to date with developments in our group. It will also give us a wider audience. We are hoping the Web site and e-mail will save us a significant amount of money and will help limit our mailing and copying expenses. We appreciate those of you who have given us an e-mail address. Remember to let us know if you change e-mail addresses. Marilyn has been entering information into the computer and sending acknowledgements. She says it’s often difficult to distinguish an “O” from a “0” and sometimes an “e” from a “c.” If you gave us an e-mail address but receive this via snail mail, it means your address did not work as we entered it.

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