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Arkansans Honor Confederate Hero David O. Dodd - Boy Martyr of the Confederacy

Thread ID: 11860 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2004-01-12

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2004-01-12 18:54 | User Profile

[url]http://epaper.ardemgaz.com/Daily/Skins/Arkansas/?AW=1073925182724[/url] January 11, 2004 Arkansas Democrat Gazette Arkansas Section page 19/146 Reenactment of trial caps Dodd event

BY JILL ZEMAN ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

The boring part about historical reenactments, quipped Stephan McAteer of the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, is that the outcome never changes.

[img]http://www.arkpower-light.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/pc0190800.jpg[/img] [SIZE=1]Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN Civil War reenactors fire their guns Saturday during a ceremony at the grave of David O. Dodd in Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock. Reenactors from around the state participated in several events to commemorate the 140 th anniversary of the death of Dodd, who was convicted and executed by Union forces for being a Confederate spy. [/SIZE]

That didn’t hold back more than 200 people from attending a ceremony honoring David O. Dodd, often called the "Boy Martyr of the Confederacy," who was executed by Union forces in Little Rock for being a Confederate spy. Union forces occupying Little Rock in 1863 arrested the 17-year-old Dodd for carrying coded messages alleged to have contained specifics about federal military strengths. A court convicted Dodd, and he was hanged Jan. 8, 1864, on the grounds of the former St. John’s College, east of what is now MacArthur Park. He was buried in Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock. Saturday’s ceremony commemorated the 140th anniversary of Dodd’s death and was marked by the unveiling of the stained-glass Dodd Window, featuring the boy’s likeness. McAteer, executive director of the museum, arranged to bring the window back to Little Rock after he discovered that it was stored, rather than displayed, at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Va. The window, on a one-year loan from the Richmond museum, was displayed at the Arkansas Museum of Science and History, now the Museum of Discovery, from 1990 to 1998. "It’s a beautiful piece of art, and we love to have it on display for Arkansans who couldn’t make it to Richmond," McAteer said.

[img]http://www.arkpower-light.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/nervousnegro.jpg[/img] [SIZE=1]Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN ( Nervous Negro ) Jerry Simpson portrays a Union Army solider during a reenactment Saturday at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History of the trial of David O. Dodd, a 17-year-old boy tried and convicted of being a Confederate spy 140 years ago. ( Image of Hero looks over shoulder of nervous negro )[/SIZE]

The much-told story of Dodd’s role in Arkansas history was presented in an unprecedented way this year — through a historical reenactment of the boy’s trial, presented by the Central Arkansas Civil War Preservation Association and the 6 th Arkansas and 37 th Illinois Infantry Reenactors. In December 2002, the group looked up Dodd’s original trial transcripts from 1864 and crafted them into a script, said Tom Ezell of Scott, who spearheaded the effort. The 90-minute performance recreated the entirety of Dodd’s trial, from the opening statements to the boy’s plea for mercy. It culminated with a fivemember commission unanimously sentencing Dodd to death by hanging. Those involved in the reenactment participate because of a passion for history, Ezell said. "Most people who get into this are looking for something more than what’s in the books," he said of the group, which has members throughout the state. Although the tedious process of accurately recreating Dodd’s trial took more a year to complete, Ezell said the work was well worth it. "It’s that feeling you get from sharing that experience with the old boys that did it in ’61 and ’65," he said. "You can really appreciate what they did. It’s not like what you see in the movies." On Saturday, the museum also launched a drive to conserve the Capitol Guard, the statue that has stood in MacArthur Park since 1911. Weather and vandalism have damaged the statue, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Members of the Arkansas Military Heritage Foundation estimate that $35,000 is needed to conserve the statue. Already, $23,000 has been raised, including a $5,000 donation from the Arkansas Division-United Daughters of the Confederacy. Raising money to repair the Capitol Guard is the group’s second project to preserve Confederate art, said chairman Jean Rutherford-Crouch. The first project came in 1997, after a tornado in Arkadelphia decapitated a Confederate soldier statue outside the Clark County Courthouse. The statue was repaired, head and all, in 2002.