Teen Historian Launches His Career With Color Book

By Kathryn Jorgensen

December 2005

A teen Civil War buff and artist is sharing his enthusiasm through a comic book, Civil War Leaders, for ages 7-15 and a Web site that he created.

Jared Frederick, 17, now a senior at Bishop Guilfoyle High School in Altoona, Pa., got interested in history when he saw the movie “Gettysburg” at age 6 while visiting his aunt’s house. The next year his parents took him to the battlefield. “One thing led to another and here I am,” he says.

He knows that it is important to make history fun for youngsters, which is one reason he produced a coloring book. “You just can’t stand and preach to them about the importance of it. You have to make it fun for them,” he says.

“It’s entitled a coloring book, but I like to think of it as more of a mini-history book. Adults like it,” he says, especially the biographical summaries.

Jared is a born artist. He says he has been drawing “since I could get my hands on crayons.”

He won first prize in the Civil War Preservation Trust’s (CWPT) poster contest for the past three years and for the last two years received the first-place prize in the junior photography contest. He has been a member of the CWPT for about five years and gives it a portion of his profits.

He didn’t set out to create coloring books. That sort of happened. His family was visiting Gettysburg where his brother, now 11, got some Civil War coloring books.

“I was looking at them and thought I could do better. My Mom said, ‘Why don’t you?’”

Jared took the challenge, one he says took three years to pull together, drawing, setting aside and redrawing.

The result is Civil War Leaders, which was published early this summer. It concentrates on 40 generals and leaders. In addition to drawing the illustrations, Jared also wrote a four-paragraph biography of each person and a glossary in the back.

The book is self-published under the company name History Matters. “That’s me,” says Jared, who introduces himself on his Web site at www.historymatters.biz.

The book was launched a few days after it was printed at a signing over the battle anniversary weekend at the Gettysburg Gift Center. That day he sold more than 50 of the 1,000 copies that were printed. By early October he had sold half of them.

Jared’s marketing consists of some e-mail contacts and dropping copies of the book off during family travels around Pennsylvania and Maryland. The bookstore at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park carries it. Jared portrays a sketch artist with Harpers’s Weekly at the park and has researched many of the field artists, including Winslow Homer and Alfred Waud.

He has a lot of plans for additional books. He has written the text for a second leaders coloring book. He’s also working on a book of illustrations for descendants of the 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry that will feature text by Larry J. Fryer, who heads the descendants group, and Rob Frederick. Jared also creates canvas paintings, drawings and sketches and Christmas cards.

Jared has a personal reason for his Civil War interest. Some 20 or 30 ancestors fought in the war. Most were from Pennsylvania, some served with Missouri units and one died at Andersonville. A Confederate in Texas may also be related.

In his non-Civil War life Jared is in Student Council, Debate Club, Students Against Dangerous Decisions, School Improvement Committee, Environmental Science Club, and the Yearbook Committee. His memberships include a Civil War descendants group, Blair County Genealogical Society and the county historical society and church.

Jared plans to study history and art at the Penn State Altoona campus.