Mercy House Casting Call

The room had about a dozen iron bedsteads and a few men were building some kind of bunk or shelving for the show. Mercy House is the upcoming PBS series that takes place in Civil War Alexandria, using Mansion House Hospital as its focus. Filming is scheduled for later this month through June in Richmond. At this point, the production company is using a large warehouse-type building on the outskirts of Richmond, where they held a casting call for extras on April 2.

IMG_0870

I couldn't resist.

In greatest demand: thin young men with no tattoos and amputees. A secondary need: doctors, nurses, and orderlies who, presumably, wouldn't be totally flummoxed by the medical aspect, even if 150 years old. Middle-aged white women? not so much.

When I got there a little before 4 pm (supposedly, open hours between 4 and 8), a line had already formed and they had begun the call. We watched some men build some kind of bunk or shelf; over on the other side were a dozen or so metal bedsteads.

Two women took measurements (very important, as people need to fit already obtained costumes), then someone, possibly the extras casting director, took a head shots. We held a white board with our assigned number (mine was #21).

A few of the people (yes, mostly young thin men, although a few others, too) looked so convincing, even in their 2015 clothes, that I won't be surprised if I see them in the background of a few scenes when the show airs in 2016.

As for me? Better that I am a writer and not an actor. The director didn't even bother with a profile shot, nor ask my availability, as he did with some others before me in line.

Still, if I get the call....

Civil War 150--Post Supplement and JW Comments

The Washington Post of March 29, 2015, includes one of the periodic supplements it has published over the past few years, Civil War 150. In addition to articles about Lincoln's assassination, Appomattox, etc., lots of images to pore over, including this series culled from the Library of Congress of post-war Richmond.

As for Julia in those early-April days, she records moments of joy and uncertainty, followed by despair after the assassination.

But here are a few excepts from her pocket diary on the days before what we now see as a part of a historic continuum:

Monday, April 3, 1865

Richmond is taken!

Petersburg is taken!

Tuesday, April 4, 1865

Illumination this eve. What a splendid sight I ever saw. The Pub. buildings & many others very beautiful. Crowd at Patent Office. Speaking there. Had surfeit of guns & flags & music & shouting & lights. Walked down Avenue and rode back. Street full of folks.

Saturday, April 8, 1865

Bright. Cool.

At 9 A.M. went to Navy Yard with Frances [her sister], Miss K. & Miss A. & J. Ford. 

Saw copper rolling & tack machine. Saw cannon made & balls & anchors.

Went on board iron clad Montauk here for repairs. Saw guns taken at Ft Fisher & and from reb. ram Atlanta & from B. runner Princess Royal & one from the Merrimac & Decatur’s 2 guns, &c. &c. Came back tired enough.

Monday, April 10, 1865

Rainy. Awakened early by a heavy gun, followed by 199 others. Lee has surrendered his army on Grant’s terms. There is great excitement. [see below for photo of the McLean house in Appomattox.]

Wednesday, April 12, 1865

Cloudy. Wet evening.

Overhauled everything in clothing room. Did various chores. Frances has been out with Mrs. Fish nearly all day.

Letter from Miss Evans. Letters from Somerset [home of two of her sisters and their families], full of unpleasant news & I was needing something encouraging just now. I am not half well & am quite dispirited.

Friday, April 14, 1865

Fine. Sumter anniversary.

I went to Alex to a celebration. Took 10 A.M. train. Sorry Frances cd. not go. Called at Magnolia House & at Mrs. Belden’s & at Mrs. Jacobs/

The procession moved at 3 P.M. There were Cav. & Inf. & Art. & Firemen & Cold. Home Guard & various things. It was really very fine. Perfect order & well-timed. Gen. Slough commanded. Staid in evening to see Illumination, but only a few buildings were illuminated. Secesh houses all dark as could be.

[That night, while Julia stayed from her friends in Alexandria, Lincoln was shot.)

Alexander Gardner photo, part of his photographic sketchbook, at LOC (E468.7 .G2 (Case Y) [P&P] Copy 1)

A mid-March day in 1863

Julia Wilbur, like many of her contemporary diary writers, always included a note about the day's weather. It's hot, cold, squally, showery, pleasant, etc. etc. Without weather forecasts, each day's conditions were always a bit of a surprise. And without much in the way of heat and no air-conditioning, the weather was something sometimes enjoyed but more often merely endured. As we end--we hope!--our severe winter of 2015, here's what Julia recorded in mid-March 1863....

March 15, 1863 Sunday

Very cold. Have not been out. Mrs. J. called. Read a little. Cleaned up, labeled specimens, wrote some. Letter from S.A. Ferris. She is not coming at present, too bad.

This P.M. it has hailed & snowed. There has been thunder & lightning & this evening the thunder roars & the lightning flashes. Unusual for this season.

"Mrs. J." would have been her friend and fellow relief worker Harriet Jacobs.

The "specimens" were the bits and pieces that people gathered at various sites most improvidently. (The Illustrated History of Civil War Relics by Sylvia and Michael J. O'Donnell talks about how often this occurred, to the point that excursion trains were organized in some cases for Northern civilians to forage at abandoned battlefields.) In this case, she wrote about visiting Mount Vernon and Fort Washington several days earlier on an expedition of 12 people, and these were no doubt some of her pickings.

Finally, S.A. Ferris was a friend from Rochester who often sent letters and boxes of supplies.

Julia Wilbur project

Julia Wilbur traveled from Rochester, NY, to Alexandria, VA, in 1862, ready to help the Union cause how best she could. Her diaries (one example shown here, part of the Quaker Collection at Haverford College) reveal her successes and disappointments, friends and foes. I will use this site to highlight some of what I have learned about her, Civil War Alexandria and Washington, and the many people and events she came in contact with. Also, I hope this website finds those of you working on similar projects so we can share information and answer each other's questions.