Brownsboro Junior High students were treated to a surprise Thursday, May 8. US History students entered the school library to find a man dressed in a Confederate infantry uniform. The man was Rickey Pittman, an author, teacher and Civil War re-enactor.

He had even brought a host of items actually used during the war.

Jana Snyder, librarian at the school, said she asked Pittman to come to the school after they met at a library conference in Jacksonville during January.

"He's going to be teaching US history classes throughout the day," Snyder said.

Pittman, who hails from Monroe, La., also teaches freshman English at two Northeast Louisiana universities. He is a certified Gifted and Talented secondary English teacher.

He first got interested in Civil War re-enactment when a friend took him to one.

"He had an extra uniform, so I tried it out."

To Pittman, English and history have always gone together hand in hand, so he merged English and history to become an author. His first major step was winning the grand prize in the Ernest Hemmingway Short Story Competition in 1998.

"I wrote a short story called `Ghost Fires'," Pittman said, "and I was able to meet Hemmingway's family."

From there, Pittman wrote two books on the Civil War from the south's viewpoint.

One book, a children's book called "Jim Limber Davis: A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House", is a factual account of an orphaned black child adopted by

Jefferson Davis.

"The Confederacy had its own White House during the Civil War," Pittman said. "The first one was in Montgomery, Alabama. The second was in Richmond, Virginia."

The Jim Limber Davis story is an accelerated reader book, meaning schools can have test questions on the book. It is aimed at pre-kindergarten through third grade level readers.

The second book, "Stories of the Confederate South", is a collection of fictional short stories from the Civil War era from the south's perspective.

In addition to his teaching and re-enactment interests, Pittman is also a freelance writer and editor. He is also a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Camp Thomas McGuire, in West Monroe.

"There are so many stereotypes and so much misinformation about the Civil War these days," Pittman said about the importance of the subject. "Some of the issues are still being discussed."

He added one false stereotype about the Civil War is that the war was only started due to slavery.

Pittman said the students responded well to his lesson. In addition to telling children about the history of the war and the life of a soldier in that era, he also played guitar and sang Civil War songs for the kids.

The author's visit to Brownsboro comes amidst Pittman's first year to take his lessons on the road. Pittman said he wants to visit 100 different locations a year to teach at.

Rickey Pittman is also a traveling musician who performs both original and Civil War era music.

More information about the author and teacher is available at www.rickeypittman.com.

Pittman also visited Hastings in Tyler on Thursday for a book signing.