Aurora's role in Civil War commemorated July 3

The Aurora Historical Society will commemorate the Civil War with an encampment Saturday, July 2 and Sunday, July 3, at the Tanner House Museum at Oak and Cedar streets, Aurora. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The encampment includes varied activities. Music of the era will be performed in a two-hour concert by the 33rd Illinois Regimental Band. Musicians are reenactors who play antique instruments and dress in the uniforms the historical band wore.

Music of the 1860s will be sung by singers from the Warrenville Folklore Center.

Actors will give dramatic readings of the letters and stories of Aurora people who experienced the Civil War. Richard Westphal of Aurora, Aurora University professor emeritus of English, will tell the story of Dr. Abner Hard, an Army surgeon in the war.

Other actors will chronicle the underground railroad in Aurora and introduce Cal Boger, a former slave, who moved to Aurora to make a new life.

There also will be a field-hospital demonstration and a dramatic sketch by Lincoln reenactors, Max and Donna Daniels, based on the night Lincoln was assassinated.

Toys of the 1860s will be displayed and children can play Civil War-era games and participate in a troop inspection. Food will be available for sale.

And the restored Tanner House, dating to the 1850s and one of the oldest houses in Aurora, will be open for tours.

A one-day pass for adults is $7 or $12 for a two-day pass. A one-day pass for students, children age seven and older, is $5 or $8 for a two-day pass. Children younger than seven are free.

For more information, call (630) 859-3292 or visit aurorahistory.net.