The planning committee is hard at work planning B*ATL 2011 and the schedule is being updated frequently! This page is currently under construction. Please check back often to see the most up to date information.

BATL Musical Perfomances

8th Regiment Band Brings Historic Sounds to B*ATL,

B*ATL, is proud to bring The Eighth Regiment Band to the historic Battleground neighborhoods of the Battle of Atlanta in their 25th Anniversary year. The band will be performing along the frontlines of the 1864 Battle in today's East Atlanta Village in a 90 minute concert that will be free to the public. The concert will be part of a day of fun activities for the entire family on Saturday July 24th. The ensemble brings to life in a very lively way a piece of American history by representing the hundreds of military bands that were formed in the Union and Confederate Armies during the Civil War. The 8th Regiment appearance is sponsored by the East Atlanta Beer Fest.

The 14-member band performs music from both sides of the conflict in replica blue and gray uniforms, with appropriate dialogue and action. They create a program intended to be "a museum of 19th-century American emotions." "We dress, feel and act so that you'll think you're in a time capsule. So you can feel what the men and women of the Civil War period felt" said director JohnCarruth.

BATL Musical Performances
Noon	Bagpipes at War Demonstration of Piping by Joanne Paller	TBD East Atlanta Village More info at B*ATL Hdqtrs In EA Village Along Flat Shoals Avenue.	Free
1pm	8th Regiment Band Concert Authentic Brass Band circa 1864 In Their 25th Year!	East Atlanta Fire Station 13 across from BATL Headqtrs, 431 Flat Shoals Ave.	Free

BATL Storytelling Festival – 8 hours or more of drama and comedy

With tales based on historical fact to stories pure fantasy The B*ATL Storytelling Festival returns on July 16th chock full of links to the historic Battle of Atlanta.

This year’s B*ATL is the 147th Commemoration of the Battle of Atlanta which happened in Southeast Atlanta, "Meet Mr. Lincoln" at the Battle of Atlanta for the first time in History!  Living History artist Dennis Boggs brings our 16th President to life in a show that traces Abraham Lincoln's story from his birth in Kentucky, his time in Washington as Commander in Chief during The Civil War, to his re-election after the Battle here in Atlanta.  The show reveals personal details about this revered American Hero and is perfect for the whole family.  Sooner or later everyone comes to Atlanta-even honest Abe. There will be one show at East Atlanta Library on Flat Shoals Avenue in the East Atlanta Village and another at the Kirkwood Library on Hosea Williams in the Kirkwood Business District.  Abe will be in the East Atlanta Village throughout the day for a post campaign photo op.

 East Atlanta neighbor and popular Georgia musician and storyteller Eric Litwin will bring Pete the Cat to life with songs of yesteryear and Americana at the East Atlanta Library. Eric is another popular BATL artist performing to standing room only crowds. Eric adds music and sounds to his stories. With over 8 hours of storytelling there is something for children and storylovers of all ages.

Wren’s Nest Rambler Curtis Richardson is back this year with African and African American folktales and some selections from the Brer Rabbit collection. Akbar Imhotep returns to BATL triumphantly with his take on tales that are traced back through Georgia Plantations to Africa.

Another popular African American Storyteller, Josie Bailey will bring her special Georgia characters to the festival.

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B*ATL Storytelling Festival – 8 hours or more of drama and comedy
10am	Pete The Cat author Eric Litwin with Pete’s favorite songs and stories of the 1860s	East Atlanta Library East Atlanta Village 400 Flat Shoals Ave.	Free Limited Seating
11am	Meet Mr. Lincoln  Dennis Boggs brings Honest Abe to Life in tales from the Log Cabin to the White House and war time	East Atlanta Library East Atlanta Village 400 Flat Shoals Ave.	Free Limited Seating
NOON	“Brer Rabbit Tales” by Wren’s Nest Rambler Curtis Richardson	East Atlanta Library East Atlanta Village 400 Flat Shoals Ave.	Free Limited Seating
12:15pm	Meet Mr. Lincoln  Dennis Boggs brings Honest Abe to Life in tales from the Log Cabin to the White House and war time	Kirkwood Library At 11 Kirkwood Rd at  Hosea Williams Dr. in the Bus. Dist.	Free Limited Seating
12:30pm	African Folk Tales by BATL  Favorite Akbar Imhotep	East Atlanta Library East Atlanta Village 400 Flat Shoals Ave.	Free Limited Seating
1 pm	African Folk Tales including Brer Rabbit by popular storyteller “Wren’s Nest Rambler” Curtis Richardson	Kirkwood Library Kirkwood Business District on Hosea Williams Dr.	Free Limited Seating
1:30pm	African Folk Tales by BATL  Favorite Akbar Imhotep	Kirkwood Library Kirkwood Business District on Hosea Williams Dr.	Free Limited Seating
2pm	Miss Mary Gay’s Decatur Tales  by story teller Fran Franz	Kirkwood Library Kirkwood Business District on Hosea Williams Blvd.	Free Limited Seating
2pm	GranMaw Gordon’s Songs & Tales in Black & White by Teri Stewart & Heidi Polyea	East Atlanta Library East Atlanta Village 400 Flat Shoals Ave.	Free Limited Seating
2:30pm	A Slave Narrative Living History artist Josie Bailey delivers the real story of a local slave.	Kirkwood Library Kirkwood Business District on Hosea Williams Dr.	Free
3pm	Miss Mary Gay’s Decatur Tales  by story teller Fran Franz	East Atlanta Library East Atlanta Village 400 Flat Shoals Ave.	Free Limited Seating
3:30pm	Brer Rabbit Tales by popular storyteller Josie Bailey	East Atlanta Library East Atlanta Village 400 Flat Shoals Ave.	Free Limited Seating

B*ATL Author Talks and Book Signings
Authors are scheduled throughout the week and on Saturday for  talks and book signings at Bound to Be Read Bookstore and other venues.

B*ATL invites all to join historian Bob Davis as he tells the story of the devastation that befell Atlanta, the Union occupation, and how the "Gate City" was reborn from the ashes. Mr. Davis will highlight his newest book Civil War Atlanta. Plus, the author will give us an advance peek at his latest research on the controversial Provost of Confederate Atlanta, George Washington Lee.

Bound to Read Books, and the Atlanta Cyclorama.

* It is offered free to the public and includes admission to the Cyclorama Museum.

About the Author

Robert Scott Davis, Jr. has written and compiled more than 1,000 publications dealing with genealogy, history, records, and research. He has been widely quoted by or appeared in CNN, Time, Smithsonian, Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. His work has received awards from the American Association for State and Local History; the Sons of the American Revolution; and the National Genealogical Society.


A Civil War Diary: What Life was Really like in Wartime Atlanta

B*ATL presents Wendy Venet speaking about her new book “Sam Richards’ Civil War Diary”


Author and Georgia State professor Wendy Venet will take us on an up close and personal tour of Civil War Atlanta through the eyes and words of a merchant who was on the scene in the middle of downtown. The revealing book documents life during and after the war, from routine daily events, religious observances and business dealings, to personal tragedies, the worsening conditions of the war up to and including the Union siege in 1864.


* This program is sponsored by BATL, the Georgia Humanities Council, Bound to Read Books, and the Atlanta Cyclorama.

* It is offered free to the public and includes admission to the Cyclorama Museum.


"Historians have known about this diary for a long time and have quoted it for a number of years," Venet says, noting that it has been quoted primarily for aspects of the military campaign. "But what I saw in the diary was a range of topics that I think other historians have not really recognized or pursued . . ."

Views on secession, slavery, invasion, reconstruction and more are discussed as well as the day to day routine, religion, business and personal tragedies.


About the Author

Professor Venet specializes in Nineteenth Century U.S. history. Her undergraduate courses include Civil War/Reconstruction and American women’s history. She offers graduate seminars focusing on the Civil War era, biography and history, and American women’s history. She has numerous books about the civil war period that have been published. As an Advisory Board member, she helped to conceptualize exhibits for the

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library in Springfield, Illinois, which opened in 2005.
 

B*ATL Author Talks and Book Signings
July 24, 2010– Saturday
11am	Barry Brown author of Crossroads of Conflict: Civil War Sites in Georgia – author talk and book signing	Bound to Be Read Book Store on Flat Shoals Avenue in the East Atlanta Village	Free
2pm	Dr Brian Wills author of Gone With the Glory: The History of the Civil War in the Cinema:	Author Talk and Book signing at Bound to Be Read Books on Flat Shoals in East Atlanta Village	Free
3:30pm	TBA	Author Talk and Book signing at Bound to Be Read Books on Flat Shoals in East Atlanta Village	Free
4:30pm	Marion Blackwell author of Blue Locusts, a book of selected artcles, poetry and fiction about East Atlanta, The Civil War and other Georgia historical subjects	Author Talk and Book signing at Bound to Be Read Books on Flat Shoals in East Atlanta Village	Free
Note this year there will be a special lecture on Sunday Evening by Robert Davis at The Cyclorama (below)
July 25, 2010– Sunday
Time	Event	Neighborhood	Ticket Price
7pm	“The Man Sherman Could Not Stop” Lecture by Robert Davis about his new book Civil War Atlanta	The Atlanta Cyclorama in Grant Park on Cherokee Avenue	Free Limited Seating

Event sponsors include The Georgia Humanities Council, the and The City of Atlanta.

B*ATL is raising money to restore Atlanta's two battlefield monuments-the McPherson Monument and the Walker Monument located in the historic BATL neighborhoods. We also hope to erect and maintain National Park-like display signs across the battlefield area to augment existing historic markers. The new signs would have graphics and maps to involve readers more and provide a 365-day-a-year B*ATL experience for visitors as well as area residents.