Civil War buffs and casual history fans alike turned out Saturday at the Midway Village and Museum Center in Rockford to hear stories of local history.

The museum, 6799 Guilford Rd., invited a panel of experts to speak at the first Civil War symposium the museum has done.

“It’s brand new, out of the box. We had a good turnout,” said Dave Oberg, education resources manager at the museum. “We had everybody from high school students to retired people show up.”

One person they came to see was Lance Herdegen, an award-winning author and journalist. Herdegen is also the founder and director of the Institute of Civil War Studies at Carroll College in Wisconsin and the former president of the Civil War Round Table of Milwaukee.

“It’s always interesting to see how much people know about the Civil War in their area,” Herdegen said. “It’s good when a community knows so much about local history.”

Dan Bartlett, exhibits manager of the museum, was one speaker who focused on local impacts.

“My focus was on the war at home, in Winnebago County,” Bartlett said. “I talked about the draft and the recruiting of soldiers and identified several of the soldiers from the area.”

Another speaker who maintained the local angle was Tom Milani, a Rockford attorney and author. Milani is an expert on the 74th Infantry, which mostly included men from Winnebago County.

“Tom [Milani] connected many of his stories to actual artifacts. It was really a great presentation,” Oberg said.

Jim Schmidt, an associate professor at NIU, was also at the symposium analyzing and performing music of the Civil War.

“I thought the entire day went really well,” Bartlett said. “We had a nice turnout, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.”

The museum plans to continue Civil War presentations. On May 7, the museum will start a hands-on history exhibit on the Civil War.

The exhibit will be designed mostly for junior high students, and Bartlett said he expects about 3,000 students to take part in the exhibit.

For more information on upcoming events and exhibits at the museum, you cancall 815-397-9112 or visit www.midwayvillage.org.