Real People, Real History began as a collaborative project between tenth grade students from Huntsville High School and upper-level undergraduate and graduate history students from the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). Over the course of the 2009-2010 school year, these students conducted primary and secondary source research in the Special Collections Department of the Huntsville/Madison County Public Library and used online resources to write individual histories about a person, place, event, or an idea that existed in Madison County during the Civil War. This site is dedicated to preserving these public and private memories from the Civil War.
This website allows the public to read and write about their history, explore period documents such as diaries, letters, and photographs; and examine their community's involvement in the Civil War. We hope that you engage your history and learn about the past.
The Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society (HMCHS) has dedicated itself “to preserving the past to enrich the future through local education and preservation.” As the sponsoring organization for this project, the HMCHS has ensured this project will be both the intellectual foundation and public portal for Madison County's planned commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War that begins in 2011.
