During these summer months, many seek comfort on balmy ocean shores or other cool getaways.

But not historical re-enactors. Those hearty souls deliberately experience discomfort and inconvenience -- and yes, without air conditioning -- to give us a glimpse of frontier life and military history.

Summer -- and especially Independence Day -- is their prime time.

One enthusiast summed it up best: "Short of getting scurvy or getting injured, we like to be as authentic as possible."

And so they are, sewing their own clothing using the stitching techniques of the time, and observing traditions to re-create life as it was..

As the home of Jumonville, Fort Necessity and Fort Pitt, the Pittsburgh area has no shortage of military and historic re-enactors who focus on 18th century life, including the French and Indian War, and the Revolutionary War that followed about 20 years later, along with the skirmishes surrounding both.

Those who re-create the Civil War, the favored conflict of most American re-enactors, are also abundant here, though the majority of them reside south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Enthusiasts come from all backgrounds: retirees with an interest in history, students or those who want to dispel historic myths.

Brenda Applegate -- from the latter group -- exposes the role of women in history through her volunteer work and as executive director of the Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation.

"It's all military; they never tell you it from a woman's side," said Ms. Applegate of historic landmarks and texts.

A self-described "living historian," Ms. Applegate said few people know that women occasionally fought in conflicts, especially in the Revolution, without being disguised as men as is widely believed.

The term "living history" is often used to describe the process of bringing history to life by re-enactment or through first-person interpretation.

And, she said the role of camp followers during the Civil War wasn't filled with women of ill-repute, but by the wives and sweethearts of soldiers, who would help with cooking and cleaning for the regiments. For their work, they received half-rations.

With her group, Applegate's School of Needlework, Ms. Applegate, of Ohioville, and other women take on the roles of frontier women, demonstrating wool and flax spinning, quilting, crafts and other sewing projects.

Other demonstrations and tours are available at the foundation's headquarters in the William Vicary Mansion in Freedom, Beaver County.

"We're focusing on what tasks local women would have done," she said. "We're not focusing on the military aspect."

Ron Malmgren's bread and butter is military history. As a member of several re-enactment groups, the South Strabane man finds himself busy this time of year.

"This is a step up from a hobby," said Mr. Malmgren, a grocery inventory coordinator by day and a "progressive" -- also known as hard-core -- frontier-era re-enactor in his free time.

Mr. Malmgren serves in Capt. Andrew Swearingen's Company Militia, adapted after a group formed in 1775 in Washington County.

Mr. Malmgren is the acting captain of the group, which includes about 30 members from Fayette and Allegheny counties as well as Washington County. Their ages range from 16 to 65.

Formed two years ago, the group concentrates its efforts on a new Frontier History Center recently built in Washington Park, where they give demonstrations using 18th century costumes and muskets.

"Our primary mission is to support the Frontier History Center since we're a new group," he said.

The militia will appear at the center July 25-26 during "Frontier Life 1777," sponsored by the Washington County Historical Society.

As a Marine, Mr. Malmgren developed an interest in history. He also has an ancestor, Capt. Andrew Lynn, of Westmoreland County, who served in the Revolutionary War.

He began re-enacting 35 years ago, and has since immersed himself in the past, hand stitching his own wool and linen clothing and using a black-powder rifle to hunt.

He has three complete uniforms, depending on whether he's depicting a militia man or regimental soldier, and he also makes his own accoutrements, such as leather belts, wood cartridge boxes and much more.

For the sake of authenticity, Mr. Malmgren once used cord to strap blanket pieces on his body as a ragged form of clothing when portraying the Spartan conditions facing soldiers at Valley Forge.

"They were literally wearing blankets or whatever they could get," he said.

Members of his militia drill frequently, and can sharpen axes, start fires with flint and live off the land as frontier people did.

Bona fide historian Dr. Carl Robertson doesn't strictly adhere to a frontier dress code, but he more than makes up for it through his enthusiasm for history.

The Jackson, Butler County, man built Providence Plantation, a living history center where he lives with his wife, Jeanne.

He also stages an annual walk along the route taken by a then- 21-year-old George Washington and his guide, Christopher Gist, (portrayed by Dr. Robertson) in 1753 toward Fort LeBoeuf in Erie. There the nation's first president undertook his first military mission -- to demand the French withdraw from this area.

It didn't work.

"It was like a preview of bad things to come," said Dr. Robertson, who has a doctorate in history. He is writing a book about the mission.

Dr. Robertson said he and his wife became interested in living history after touring historic destinations, many of which he said were filled with "distortions riddled with fiction."

Twenty years ago, the couple purchased 44 acres and began backward-remodeling a 135-year-old farmhouse to make it look closer to 200 years old.

They also built a smokehouse, summer kitchen, dairy and stable -- by hand.

The architecture features a strong Virginian influence, with rounded cedar shake roofs, half-inch beading along wooden boards, hand-planed, of course, and all-white buildings.

A visit to the plantation, open for tours and presentations by appointment only, doesn't involve a step back in time. Dr. Robertson, who also portrays John Neville, John Armstrong and others, sees things differently.

"I want you to know the history through my eyes," he said. "We want to bring history to you."

Another historic re-enactment can be found every spring in Harrisburg, where state Rep. Harry Readshaw, D-Carrick, kicks off his annual Civil War Preservation Ball at the Capitol Rotunda.

A period gala that raises money to preserve the historic monuments at Gettysburg battlefield, the ball features something else that's unique -- the Victorian Dance Ensemble of the Civil War Dance Foundation.

"These are very dedicated people. They just love that era in history," Mr. Readshaw said.

The group of approximately 50 dancers perform about 36 times a year, including a performance this year at Barack Obama's inauguration.

This group is nothing if not authentic, right down to corsets, stockings, petticoats, hoops and many other layers of fussy undergarments with a variety of functions.

"We have a rather strict authenticity policy when it comes to clothing," said dance master Dr. Lawrence Keener-Farley.

The group even has a committee which inspects attire and ensures that all costumes pass historical muster.

A major faux pas would be wearing a short-sleeved or low-neck dress during the daytime -- "Victorian ladies were terrified of having tan skin," said Dr. Keener-Farley.

Another faux pas: Dancing more than twice with one's spouse during a ball. "The idea was that you were to get out and mingle with other people," he said.

Men and women always wore gloves, he said. "The thought of sweaty flesh touching sweaty flesh and sweat stains was repugnant to them," he said.

Like other re-enactors and interpreters, the dance ensemble's primary mission is to promote historic authenticity.

"The years 1861 to 1865 were not all blood and mud, death and destruction," Dr. Keener-Farley said, repeating a motto on the group's Web site. "On the home front there was grace and elegance, candlelight ... and dancing!"

Debby Dull, of Scottdale, can certainly sympathize with the dancers, as she too strives for authenticity through her "seven-layer salad" of dress in her role as a civilian in the Civil War.

The first-grade teacher at Bullskin Elementary School always liked history, but never thought she would be a part of it. Now, she's hooked.

"If someone would have told me four years ago that I would be doing this, I would have told them they were high," said Ms. Dull, a member of the Mason-Dixon Regiment, based in the Greensburg area.

Ms. Dull became interested in living history during a trip to Gettysburg several years ago for a Remembrance Day parade.

Being from southwestern Pennsylvania, her idea of a parade was firetrucks, balloons and antique cars.

"I felt like I had been dropped by the Starship Enterprise," she said.

Everyone was in period dress, and there were Civil War bands, artillery, officers and more.

Since that time, she has worn a day-dress, "hotter than the hinges of hell," in the summer, she says, for educational programs and festivals.

She has amassed a collection of Civil War reproduction toys, including wooden items, from pickup sticks and tops to clay marbles and dolls made from fabric scraps.

Kids love it.

"They will play with these things all day long," she said of kids who attend programs. "Whenever we do this, I've gotten the biggest crowd."

Ms. Dull and her group will be appearing this weekend during 146th anniversary celebrations at Gettysburg. They will be stationed at the Gettysburg campground with members of a partner group, the Keystone Regiment of Altoona.

Ms. Dull's newfound interest in history has sparked more than just her imagination. After she retires in a few years, she hopes to earn a master's degree in Civil War history just for the fun of it.

"If anyone asks me why I do it, it's because I think that period of time needs to be preserved," she said.

Janice Crompton can be reached at jcrompton@post-gazette.com or 724-223-0156.