Manassas Park Sisters Part of Jubilee Re-enactment

Manassas Park will be well represented today, as two of the city’s own will play key roles in one of the most important events taking place in Manassas during this historic week. 

Sisters Abby and Amelia “Emmy” Krafsig are two of the 48 Peace Maidens participating in the Peace Jubilee of 1911 Re-enactment scheduled for 4 p.m. today at the Old Courthouse in Old Town Manassas.

 The afternoon event commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Peace Jubilee, which was held on this day in the exact spot, 50 years after the First Battle of Manassas, also known as, the Battle of Bull Run.

 The original event was attended by thousands including Confederate and Union Army veterans and then-U.S. President William Howard Taft, who arrived in a car—the first car ever owned by a president.

 Also apart of the original jubilee were the 48 peace maidens—one representing each state in the union as it was at the turn of the century.

 On Wednesday, as the Sun set on a hotter-than-average afternoon, the sisters and the other maidens, wearing flirty white frocks and hair in neat chignons, gathered with the full cast for one last dress rehearsal before the big day.

 Emmy Krafsig, adorned in a blue sash worn pageant-style over her period costume, said that each maiden was asked to research their state as they prepared for the jubilee re-enactment.

 The 10-year-old then knowingly rattle off all she’d learn about South Dakota, the state she represents during the jubilee.

 Elder sister Abby,12, said she learned she had relatives living in her state, Nebraska.

 “It’s been fun because you make new friends (and) you learn history,” Emmy Krafsig said of preparing for the jubilee.

 The narrator of the jubilee re-enactment provided a lot of facts about the event, Abby Krafsig added.

 Elizabeth Krafsig, the girls’ mother, also commented on the educational element.

 “When I first agreed to let the girls do this, I thought it would be something fun; but this is also history,” Elizabeth Krafsig said Wednesday at rehearsals. “ This is something they will talk about 50 years from now. They can show these pictures to their grandchildren.”

 Elizabeth Krafsig said she’s not sure if her daughters realize how important the re-enactment is, but she hopes they do.

 The mother of four plans to have her two maidens at the courthouse hours before the event begins, but doesn’t mind arriving early because that means she can scout out good seats for the rest of her family.

 As for Emmy and Abby Krafsig, they have their own expectations about today.

 “ … It’s going to be hot,” the two said in unison Wednesday.

 “I think my favorite part is going to be when we march through the streets to the Harris Pavilion,” Abby Krafsig said.

 The jubilee re-enactment is expected to conclude with a processional of maidens and other cast members away from the Old Courthouse to the center of Old Town.