The Civil War, as anyone with access to a history book can tell you, got its official start on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked the U.S. military base at Fort Sumter, S.C. Earlier, seven states had declared their secession from the Union in advance of the March inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln, whose Republican Party had campaigned against expanding slavery beyond its then-current boundaries. Although we often forget that the American Civil War involved the entire nation, not just "the East," people in Washington Territory were deeply involved in its issues. Should nonwhites live in Washington? Should Washington become a separate nation? How should the government deal with political dissenters? Join historian and speaker Lorraine McConaghy for an interactive, living theater program that reveals the varied opinions voiced during our state's own Civil War history.

TERRITORIAL VOICES: A CIVIL WAR READER'S THEATER, 1-2 p.m., Lacey Timberland Library, 500 College St. SE, Lacey, free admission, 360.491.3860