History of the 135th USCT to Be Exhibited in Goldsboro, N.C.

From the February Wayne County, North Carolina, History Museum.

On Saturday, February 20 the museum will be having the grand opening of its new exhibit "Fighting For Freedom:  The 135th USCT, Black Soldiers of the Civil War."  (United States Colored Troops)

This is in collaboration with the 125th USCT research team.

There will be a video posted on the museum's Facebook page and You Tube channel that day at 1 p.m. (EST).  There will be interviews with descendants of the regiment's soldiers and their histories.

The 135th USCT were organized in 1865 in Goldsboro, North Carolina.  For more information on the 135th, click on the label below.

In addition, for Black History Month,  there will be exhibits at the museum on the old Central High School and the Little Washington neighborhood.

I'd sure like to go to the museum and see these exhibits, but alas, I live 1100 miles away.

Should Be Interesting.  --Old Secesh

A Midwest Perspective on the Civil War at Kenosha Museum-- Part 3

The unique story of the Upper Midwest's Civil War experience is shown in "The Fiery Trail" exhibit, a series of environmental displays spanning 1850 through the end of the war that take visitors from the home front (a fictional town called Fairfield) to supply depots, campsites and battlegrounds.

Another exhibit is the Veterans Memorial Gallery, a contemplative space honoring America's citizen soldiers and symbolizes the commonality of soldier experience through the centuries.  Veterans from all wars are commemorated on a circular series of monoliths.

Other artifacts in the museum are a Kenosha militia flag and a first-hand documentation of a slave who fled north on the Underground Railroad.  Of particular interest, visitors can follow the fortunes of dozens of actual participants in the Civil War including a nurse, soldier and abolitionist.

--Old Secesh

A Midwest Perspective on the Civil War at Kenosha Museum-- Part 2

A temporary exhibit, "On the Way to War" ran through March 1st and conveys "the universal experience of the citizen soldier," according to Dan Joyce, director of Kenosha museums.  "Take away the technology and the experience is the same; the training, camaraderie, frustration, boredom and fear."

Anchoring the exhibit are watercolor paintings done on the way to war in 1862 by soldier John Gaddis.

Too Late for This One.  --Old Secesh

A Midwest Perspective on the Civil War at the Kenosha Museum-- Part 1

From the Feb. 19, 2015, Chicago Tribune by Donald Liebenson.

The Civil War Museum is located on the Lake Michigan lakefront in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  It opened in 2008 and attracts 75,000 visitors annually.  What makes it even more special is that it focuses on how the entire upper Midwest, not just Kenosha, was impacted by the war.

Among the museum's newest attractions is "Seeing the Elephant," a ten-minute, 360-degree movie that begins with the buildup of the war and follows a young adventurer, an abolitionist and a family man as they enlist, experience battle and reflect on how the war has changed them.  This surrounds viewers with the sight and sound of the battle and is shown on the hour.

Hey, Seeing the Elephant Is My Blog name.  Well, Past-Tense Anyway.  --Old Secesh

One Really Good Civil War Exhibit

Now that it's gone, I figure it's a good time to write about it. This past year, to commemorate the beginning of the Civil War, 150 years ago, the Lake County Discovery Museum in Illinois had a special exhibit called "Civil War High Tech."

I was able to get out to it during its last week and wish I'd gone a couple times.

It concentrated on technological break throughs during the war, including: repeating firearms, ironclad ships, reconnaissance balloons, telegraph, submarines and railroads.

I wrote about the ironclads in my Running the Blockade blog. But, it did have a full-size mock-up of the Monitor's turret, right down to the bolts.

The whole thing was really interactive with plenty of things to do and hands-on-activities. A summer camp group came while I was there and those kids had a ball touching and doing. I would have thought they'd be bored in the gourd.

One of the first things I came across was the basket of an observation balloon, called a gondola. The bottom was on some sort of a fulcrum so when you stepped into it, it moved. Sure gave me a jump. Once I got back into it, I could peer over the side and see a battle going on under me.

More to Come. --Old Secesh