Hopes shrinking for theme park

By RODDIE BURRIS Staff Writer A thousand black schoolchildren visited the Battle of Aiken re-enactment over the weekend, learning about and experiencing the Confederate way of life during the Civil War. The odds that those black students will ever get to explore a thematic Reconstruction Era history park in Beaufort County have gotten much slimmer since last year. Legislation that would have given the green light to a $350,000 study of six unique historical sites associated with Reconstruction in the South died in Congress in December. Reconstruction was the immediate post-Civil War period between 1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, and 1876, when the last federal troops were withdrawn from the South. It is one of the richest periods in black history. The Reconstruction Era saw passage of: • The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ending slavery • The 14th Amendment, granting blacks civil rights • The 15th Amendment, which gave blacks the right to vote. Full Story: http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/11010345.htm