Allentown Harvest Festival set for weekendThe Libby Prison Minstrels, veterans of the Allentown Fall Harvest Festival, will bring their Civil War-era music and humor to the event again this year.
By: Mark Moffa
ALLENTOWN – The Libby Prison Minstrels, veterans of the Allentown Fall Harvest Festival, will bring their Civil War-era music and humor to the event again this year.
The group, in its eighth year, takes its name from an original band of Union prisoners held at the Libby Prison in the Southern capital of Richmond, Va.
As many as 1,300 soldiers were packed in the dark and dank rooms of the former warehouse from 1861 to 1865. Prisoners often slept on the cold, hard floors, lined up on their sides like spoons in order to conserve heat.
The soldiers were desperate for distractions from their misery. Through the purchase of musical instruments from outside the prison, some prisoners formed a minstrel group, giving performances in the kitchen.
"They put on plays and presentations for the prisoners and also their captors," said Brian Ross, a Berlin Borough resident who is a member of the present-day Libby Prison Minstrels. "People outside would listen."
In a story reminiscent of "The Shawshank Redemption," prisoners eventually used the music as a distraction to work on their escaping the prison.
"There were prisoners actually behind the fireplace wall digging a hole out of the prison," Mr. Ross said.
In early 1864, 109 men escaped in one night from the Libby Prison. Two drowned in the James River, 48 were recaptured, and 59 made it safely to Union lines.
Mr. Ross, a biological researcher at the Thomas Jefferson University of Medicine in Philadelphia, began playing Civil War-era music in 1992 with two partners, David Budmen and Richard Mendoza.
Mr. Mendoza is the captain of the 12th New Jersey Volunteers Regiment, a Civil War re-enactment group. Mr. Ross also is a member.
After a 1992 performance in the Grand Army of the Republic Museum in Philadelphia, the still unnamed three-man musical group saw an old program from an original Libby Prison Minstrels performance. It was then the band realized they were doing essentially the same thing.
They assumed the name and today perform three types of shows. In Allentown on Saturday, the Minstrels will perform their music and humor show, but their repertoire also includes a music and history show as well as an interactive music and dance performance.
The band will perform Northern and Southern songs from the Civil War era.
According to Mr. Ross, it is difficult to authenticate songs as being from the war. Many songs, he said, are post-era. The minstrels will perform only music genuinely from the Civil War.
"One of our famous songs that people know us by is the ‘Star-Spangled Banner,’" Mr. Ross said.
The 1861 version, which was performed by the band in January at the governor’s State of the State Address, is quite different from the present version, he said.
"What a lot of people don’t realize is that a lot of Civil War tunes or songs have changed over time," Mr. Ross said, emphasizing that the Minstrels continue to search for true Civil War versions.
Their first CD, "Un-Guarded," was released in 1997 and contains classics such as "Yankee Doodle," "Oh! Susannah," and the "Battle Cry of Freedom." Their second compilation is due out next year.
Mr. Ross plays mandolin and tin whistle for The Libby Prison Minstrels, Mr. Mendoza plays the mountain and hammered dulcimer, and Mr. Budmen plays guitar and piano. All three sing.
For more information call (856) 768-7390.