What was the Civil War really about?

A new film will examine this important history lesson in that most historical of Austin places.

Michael Gray's exclusive feature documentary film seeks to answer that question.

The film will be shown 7 p.m. Oct. 13, at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin. Admission is $3 per person and all proceeds go to the Mower County Historical Society.

"Hush" seeks to answer a platoon of questions that, in turn, will surely generate a skirmish of words.

Gray's film -- co-written by John McGuire -- delves deep into the subject.

Why do issues that nation confronted over 140 years ago continue to haunt today?

If the Civil War is a defining event in our nation's history and Gettysburg the central battle of that war, then Minnesota is the very center of this national story, according to Gray's film.

While Minnesota fought for a "new birth of freedom," another war was being fought at home. In 1862, the Dakota rose up against mistreatment by the same generation of pioneers that sent their sons to fight for the Union in the Civil War.

Minnesota denied suffrage to its small Black population, while sending its soldiers to fight a rebellion that sought to preserve racial slavery.

Other Minnesotans, who had enlisted in the army to fight the South, aided the suppression and expulsion of the Dakota and Ho Chunk from Minnesota.

Since 1998, a group of 20 Civil War re-enactors in Virginia have demanded that an Army of Northern Virginia battle flag, captured at Pickett's Charge by the 1st Minnesota, rightfully belongs to them.

The story, and debate over the captured Confederate colors reflects the ongoing discussion of how to remember the Civil War.

Narrated by Peter Graves, featuring commentary from prominent Civil War historian, Gary W. Gallagher of the University of Virginia, and with an original score by Elliot Sokolov, "Hush" reflects the paradoxes of American society that led to the Civil War and continue to resonate in America today.

The Michael Gray Production documentary film is available on DVD.

For more information, contact Shirley DeYoung at the Mower County Historical Center (507) 437-6082.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Paramount Theatre is located at 125 Fourth Ave. NE. For more information about the theater, call Scott Anderson at (507) 434-0034.

Lee Bonorden can be reached at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyhearld.com