Another side of Stonewall

Catherine Amos / Culpeper Star Exponent
Published: March 27, 2008

From a common interest in teaching Sunday school grew the literary portrait of a man known primarily for his deft leadership in the Confederate Army.

Author and Sunday school teacher Richard G. Williams Jr. grew up in the valleys of Waynesboro, surrounded by shadowy mountains and the rich history of the Civil War. Williams' father, a history buff, engrained in him a strong interest in the commonwealth's history.

That interest led Williams to write the intriguing biography, "Stonewall Jackson: The Black Man's Friend," which he recently translated into film. He will be in Culpeper April 4 to introduce the documentary based on his book, "Still Standing: The Stonewall Jackson Story."

After four years of extensive research steeped in primary documents from the Stonewall Jackson house in Lexington, Williams released his biography in September 2006. He retained film rights in the event of a possible documentary, which came to fruition last fall.

Through his research, Williams learned of Jackson's Sunday school class before the Civil War where he taught blacks - both slaves and freed - how to read. He expands upon events in Jackson's childhood that "planted the seed in his heart and mind for his class," including a boyhood friend who, with Jackson, defended the right of blacks to learn to read.

"He was in close contact with his family's slaves and they had a big impact on him," he said.

The class grew to nearly 100 blacks on Sunday afternoons, he said, and was comprised of children and adults. This lesser-known side of Jackson, paired with Williams' discussion of Jackson's faith, piqued the interest of the Nashville-based Franklin Springs Family Media production company.

Williams sought producers for a documentary from a handful of companies, but the pairing with Franklin Springs "just seemed like a perfect fit," he said. Though he initially wanted to focus narrowly on the Sunday school class, Williams said the producers suggested a wider approach to draw a broader audience.

"We wanted to both introduce him to folks and also get to his faith and other aspects of his life," he said. "It could have easily been a three-hour documentary, but we did a fair job."
Ken Carpenter, director and producer of "Still Standing," said his company receives numerous manuscripts for a variety of films, but was immediately interested in Williams' story.

"I was taken with the concept of the book," Carpenter said. "A southern general trying to do redemptive work with slaves is a very contrary notion to what I was taught in public school growing up. Richard's book just began to peel back new layers of understanding for me of the Southern cause, the people involved and the circumstances of the time."

Carpenter said the filming experience was fantastic, which included shooting at Virginia Military Institute - where Jackson taught natural philosophy (physics), optics and artillery tactics from 1851 until he left to fight in the War Between the States in 1861 - and Jackson's boyhood home in West Virginia.

"Not only was the subject compelling but getting to shoot at various historic sites around Virginia was a filmmaker's dream," he said. "Shooting at VMI on an autumn day when the leaves were at their height of color was just such a beautiful palate on which to craft a film."

The Friends of Cedar Mountain Battlefield group in Culpeper is sponsoring the screening to raise awareness of the battle, Stonewall's last independent command, said board member and author Virginia Morton.

"This film is really unique in that it looks at the tender side of Stonewall," Morton said. "It's not all about his battles, but also is about is upbringing, his faith and his school and the impact that's had on so many people."

Morton said she was touched deeply by a scene showing a worship service in the church Jackson attended as a child in what was then western Virginia, now West Virginia.  The gathered congregation comprises mixed-race descendents from Jackson's school for slaves who came together to remember his legacy.

"There are so few people in our modern world that our young people can look up to as heroes," Morton said. "And he can truly be looked up to as a hero. It's very inspiring."

Catherine Amos can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 138 or .

Want to go-
Who: Richard G. Williams Jr., author of "Stonewall Jackson: Black Man's Friend"
What: Screening of documentary, "Still Standing: The Stonewall Jackson Story," based on Williams' book
Where: St. Stephen's Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 115 North East Street
When: April 4 at 7 p.m.