Nicole Etcheson’s 350-page book, “A Generation at War: The Civil War Era,” covers the lasting effects of the U.S. Civil War on life in Putnam County, Indiana. The book — an Avery O. Craven Award Winner: Indiana Center for the Book Award — is the inspiration for a new documentary film by Gudaitis Production, which first premiered Jan. 22 at the Ashley Square Cinema.
Etcheson said her inspiration to write the book came from her childhood interest in Abraham Lincoln and her desire to obtain a better understanding of how the large-scale war affected smaller communities in the northern region.
“One idea was to get a sense of how the North changed during the Civil War. That's what I really wanted to get at by looking at a community like Putnam County, which was more representative of the North than other urban areas that have been written about,” Etcheson said.
The idea of Dr. Etcheson’s book being turned into a documentary film was brought to Gudaitis Production in 2019 when Jim Madison, a history professor at Indiana University (IU) Bloomington, informed the company of her book and proposed it as a new project.
Madison had worked with Gudaitis Production on some of their other films and previously had Etcheson in class as a former student.
“We went up to Muncie and talked with [Etcheson] for a while, and she agreed, ‘Yeah, I'll work with you old guys,’ and so we did,” said Gudaitis Production co-founder Larry Laswell.
The production company, known for its educational films and recent shift toward documentaries, began working on the film, “A Generation at War,” in 2020 when Laswell and fellow co-founder, the late Alan Backler, began scriptwriting. Filming followed suit in 2022, with the company’s third co-founder, David Gudaitis, acting as co-producer and director of photography, alongside Elizabeth Mitchell as co-producer, co-videographer and finance manager for the documentary.
The documentary, like Dr. Etcheson’s book, dives deep into the effects on Putnam County during the Civil War era. With Putnam County being a smaller, more local area, the members of Gudaitis Production said they wanted to focus on the families and home life during this time in history.
“The war wasn’t just what was going on on the battlefields; it was having an effect back home on all the other people, too,” Laswell said.
He explained that one of the production team’s goals with the documentary was not to treat Putnam County as a “stand-alone” or “individual,” but more so to represent the northern counties as a whole. The decision was made as many of the same consequences that occurred in Putnam County also happened in many other northern and midwestern counties.
Within the five-year process of producing the film, Laswell said several challenges and obstacles occurred that the members of Gudaitis Production were able to overcome, including underfunding, editing and filming reenactments.
However, with financial help from the Putnam County Economic Development Center, Gudaitis Production was able to persist and continue with the making of the documentary.
Shelly McFadden, a member of the Putnam County Playhouse, also helped with providing locations and actors for reenactment scenes.
With the ending of the Civil War coming up to its 150th anniversary in April, students in many parts of the world continue to learn about this era in American history and its importance.
Civil War historian and Ball State Professor Scott Stephan has not only read “A Generation at War: The Civil War Era” but also uses it as a tool for his students in his history classes.
He said the most remarkable part of Etcheson’s book is the explanation and representation of how divided the Midwest was during the Civil War era and “pulling together so many diverse sources and making it into a narrative that people could follow.”
The members of Gudaitis Production’s main goal with “A Generation at War” was to shine a light on the northern counties and the difficulties that people of all kinds in those counties experienced during the Civil War.
“To me, it’s like people still forget how history is still relevant, and the conflicts and issues that were happening in Putnam County are kind of still relevant today in terms of the issues that were going on,” Gudaitis said. “If you don’t pay attention to history, you’re doomed to repeat it.”
Since its early 2025 release, the documentary is airing on Indiana Public Television. Check local listings. Gudaitis said the production company is currently in negotiations with Buskirk Chumley Theatre in Bloomington, Indiana to air the documentary film, as well as the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis. Etchenson’s book is available for purchase online or at local bookstores.
Contact Gracie Parkhurst via email at gracie.parkhurst@bsu.edu.
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