Schools to receive DVD copy of historical production

More than 140 years ago, the spot that now houses Central Middle School was the site of a major clash between Confederate and Union troops that took the lives of more than 330 soldiers.

So it was only fitting that the school be the first in Cape Girardeau to receive a special video about local Civil War history.

The video was produced by Southeast Missouri State University professor Dr. Jim Dufek and written by Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle, who developed the idea after researching the subject for a book he wrote.

Copies of the 47-minute video, in DVD format, will go to every school in Cape Girardeau County as well as public libraries, courtesy of the university.

Better than hoped

"I got to thinking that no one has ever pulled information about Cape Girardeau during the Civil War into one book or video," said Swingle. "It's one of those things that turned out better than I hoped it would."

What started as a six-month project ended up taking more than a year and a half to complete. The Ken Burns-style documentary encompasses a battle that took place in April 1863 in Cape Girardeau.Burns' popular Civil War documentary series, which first aired on PBS in 1990, featured historian interviews, a collage of photographs and narrators reading first-person accounts from the period.

Dufek enlisted the help of three Southeast students in producing the video. Local Civil War reenactors also participated, as did Swingle and two other history buffs. Various people with the university volunteered their voices to help narrate.

School officials welcomed the additional resource.

"We can tie this into our social studies classes and make a total project out of it," said Debbie Followell, assistant principal at the middle school.

The video recently aired on a local public access channel, and copies are available by contacting Dufek at the university.

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128