Welcome to the Gem of the Hills Historian
How do I join?
This is one of the most popular questions our company receives from the public, and each of us in the company have also asked the same question as we began our journey into Living History.
In order to address this and so many other common questions we receive, I have created a guide; a one stop shop if you will, for all of your questions and concerns when navigating your way into our hobby.
Joining Co. E - 31st AL / 79th PA
Considerations:
There are many things to consider when looking into joining our hobby and quite frankly, getting into a company and started can be as much overwhelming as it is exciting. Therefore, I have posted three items for your initial consideration.
1) Understanding the Time Commitment
Our passion for our nation's past and for the American Civil War has created so many wonderful opportunities to share our knowledge and time with spectators and members of the public from across the nation. We as living historians, strive to create an as authentic as possible situation in order to educate the public on the lives of the soldiers engaged in this truly awful and difficult conflict.
We take great care to portray these men with accuracy and authenticity in order to better educate the public, and in order to bring honor to their memories. Therefore, the first item of discussion I tend to have with potential recruits to our company, has to do with motivation to become a living historian and if there is a firm understanding of the amount of time one will need to dedicate to research, acquiring gear and equipment, and maintaining good attendance at company voted events.
2) Acquiring your Uniforms and Equipment
Selecting the right uniform and equipment is an extremely important undertaking within our hobby. In order to properly portray both of our namesake companies, members must understand the time period within the war in which each operated as well as the theatre of the war in which they both saw service. Before going online and purchasing a uniform and equipment, we strongly recommend utilizing the Uniform Page, which will give a deeper insight as to what to buy and who to consider purchasing items from.
We invite newcomers to fall in and take the field with us at our events to see if this hobby is something they see themselves seriously committing to and investing in. We provide both gear and uniforms to perspective members interested in joining our company. If a perspective member finds that this is indeed something they would like to be a part of, we continue to loan out uniforms and items to them until they can begin acquiring their own. We ask that new members acquire the basic components of each kit ( 1st Union & 2nd Confederate) within the first year of membership with the company. It is strongly recommended that potential members review the "Sutlers List" which can be found within the menu above.
3) Knowledge
We each bring knowledge and passion to the hobby, inclusive in some cases of years of study and formal educational training in the discipline of history. Our goal as a company is to share viable and factually based and sourced information with the public about this period of time and specifically about the lives of those who fought the war. Though familiar with and perhaps well versed in the politics of the conflict, we generally do not ascribe to debate over why the war was fought or how it should have gone. Instead we apply our time and talents to teaching about the day to day lives of those in the field fighting the war, with focus on the smaller details often overlooked. This knowledge gives a much higher appreciation and deeper understanding of the challenges, sufferings, and hardships, men on both sides of the conflict experienced throughout the war.
It is important to our company that those wishing to join us share a like minded conviction with regard to the presentation of this knowledge with others. There is no other purpose for what we do other than to educate!