The Civil War was bloody and shrouded in gray area, but is part of history, and Williamson County is taking part of that history with a Civil War themed ball being held in Georgetown at the end of the month. The people who are holding it are hoping to give guests the ability to see what life was like in the 1860s in the area. Some citizens are raising concern to the event saying that it sends the wrong message about their community. Stephen Petrick, a junior, sits on the other side of the fence.

“I feel as if they respect other people’s values and some people might find some things in the civil war offensive, and as long as they don’t incorporate those things or do it in a respectable manner I feel as if it would send a positive message,” Petrick said. “It’ll be positive if they keep the things in the ball sensitive to the ideas of others.”

Many people have claimed the idea of a civil war themed ball to be exclusionary due to the time period and have created an online petition with 163 signatures to try to get the Williamson Museum to reconsider the ball. Petrick disagrees.

“I feel as if the civil war ball focuses on the non slavery aspects of the civil war such as the style of parties they would have,” Petrick said. “I don’t think it’s exclusionary if they do that.”

Students like senior Andrew Lopez also don’t see it as a wrong message either.

“It’s about the time period not about the racism,” Lopez said.

Lopez also voiced his thoughts on if the ball in question is exclusionary.

“No it’s not exclusionary,” Lopez said. “There’s nothing wrong with studying history, that time period is our history, so it’s better to learn from it than to pretend it never happened.”

Guests who come to the ball have to dress in costume. It will feature food and music from the era. The Civil War exhibit being held at the museum will be there until April 2017.