To the editor:

Will the 1863 Commemorate Lawrence Project please reconsider having actors “re-enact” the Quantrill Raid?  

William Quantrill was a cold-blooded murdering thug who used the excuse of the Civil War to take personal vengeance on Lawrence. He had a list of those he sought to murder. He succeeded in slaughtering over 150 men and boys. He and his fellow thugs apparently assuaged their consciences by sparing the lives of the women and girls while murdering their husbands and brothers and burning their homes.

To “re-enact” his crimes would be like “re-enacting” Timothy McVeigh’s murders in Oklahoma City or even the Boston Marathon bombings. We can remember Quantrill’s infamy without play-acting that will diminish his wickedness. We ought to focus rather on the brave men and women who stood up to him and courageously rebuilt our city.