Program Description
Event Details
This special event features Vito Mazzola's Eagle Scout project with B.S.A. Troop 73.
Vito and his team created a documentary memorializing the Civil War Veterans who are buried in The Soldiers’ Burial Plot of the Winfield Scott Post No. 73 of the G.A.R. located in Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains. The Hillside Cemetery Association donated the area of the Memorial Plot in 1899.
The Scouts researched and captured events that occurred in these soldiers’ lives and tell their stories. Some were taken prisoners or were wounded, and many suffered during their final years.
Organizations and individuals involved with this project include the Hillside Cemetery Association in Plainfield (situated in Scotch Plains), the North Jersey Civil War Round Table, Phil and Lauri Berg from the 33rd New Jersey Volunteer Infantry Regiment of Mifflin Guard, and Tom D’Amico, Harry Hudson, Anthony Sattilaro, and Frank McGonigle from the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War.
Vito also interviewed some of the local descendants of these soldiers, including Bernice Shults, Nancy Jordan, Al Smith, and Richard Sutton.
The Winfield Scott Post 73 of the Grand Army of the Republic used the Drake House as their meeting place from the 1920's until the 1940's when the last Plainfield area Civil War Veteran passed away. In the Historical Society's collection, there are Civil War artifacts including the Farragut Cannon and the Julian Scott paintings.
Join us for a film screening followed by Q&A.
This program is cohosted with the Historical Society of Plainfield / Drake House Museum.