American Civil War Museum CEO Christy Coleman leading a tour (Photo by Penelope M. Carrington, courtesy The American Civil War Museum)
The American Civil War Museum, the result of a 2013 merger with the White House and Museum of the Confederacy, is slated to open the long-anticipated 28,000-square-foot, $13.5 million expansion of its Tredegar Iron Works site in March 2019, says Christy Coleman, the institution’s CEO. “We’ll have an entirely new exhibition space, an experience theater and a whole new approach to looking at the war and its aftermath,” she says.
Part of the redesign involved placing the structure back toward the hillside, taking it out of a flood plain, a relocation that also allows for different exhibition formats. There’ll be a trench-like feature for the display of items left behind by the killed and wounded — battle-tattered uniforms, discarded weapons, shoes and personal effects like lockets. The museum also will re-create a cave in order to represent the conditions endured by many civilians, who sought shelter from bombardment during long sieges. Deprived of food either by the Union blockade or foraging armies, they were sometimes forced to eat rats and dogs in order to survive.
Those dramatic exhibitions are to come. In the meantime, the museum offers a robust series of informal talks and more standard symposia.
The museum some four years ago developed history happy hours on varying subjects that often are not discussed relative to the war, taking the presentations into brewpubs and other venues. On April 9, at Bottoms Up Pizza, National Park Service historian and writer Mike Gorman will speak about Abraham Lincoln’s journey to Richmond, near the site where the president and his son Tad came into the city via rowboat.
A rendering of the museum’s $13.5 million expansion, set to open in 2019 (Image courtesy Lifang Vision Technology Company)
The long-running and re-launched Foundry Series of talks held in a formal setting at Tredegar involves the expertise of historians on subjects such as March 15’s “When Presidents Ignore the Law,” on the 150th anniversary of the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. Abraham Lincoln also ignored certain legalities, and these cases will be discussed by Christopher Newport University’s Jonathan White, as moderated by the Washington Post’s Lillian Cunningham. On May 17, DeAnne Blanton, archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration, will discuss how and why hundreds of women on both sides dressed as men to fight. “The common element in these stories is that of mutual humanity,” says Stephanie Arduini, the museum’s director of education and programs. “This is what brings the history into life and relevancy.” (The Foundry talks start at 6 p.m., admission is $10, and reservations are encouraged.)
Online, the museum, in collaboration with Virginia Historical Society, the Library of Virginia and the Valentine, began a survey of Monument Avenue history to complement the work of the city’s Monument Avenue Commission, of which Coleman is the co-chair.
Coleman cites the staff for generating the idea for this online component, “On Monument Avenue,” a series of images, explanatory text and blog posts about Monument Avenue and the evolving views of its statues. “When your community is in crisis,” Coleman explains, “your institutions cannot remain neutral.”
The Monument Avenue blog is running its course, and what comes next may be determined by events. A similar online project is paralleling the history of the White House of the Confederacy.
Although just 2 percent of its 200 years involved the secessionist war, the house at 1201 E. Clay St. is inextricably associated with Jefferson Davis, his family (including the accidental 1864 death of Joseph, the Davises’ 5-year-old son), and the meetings and machinations of generals and officials that occurred there — ending with the April 4, 1865, visit of Abraham Lincoln. Along the way, there were families, servants, slaves, spies and students.
“The house has many fascinating stories to tell,” Arduini says. “Throughout the year, we’ll explore these different perspectives through monthly programs, online exhibits and eventually a new, permanent exhibit in the house’s lower level.”
From 2011 to 2015, the Richmond region commemorated the Civil War’s 150th anniversary, with a combination of cultural organizations united under the banner “The Future of Richmond’s Past” to provide context and discussion about the war. The effort, rebranded as “Richmond’s Journey,” now considers the war’s aftermath, and its primary event is Civil War and Emancipation Day, held in April at Tredegar. This year’s gathering includes a presentation by New York City-affiliated theatrical troupe Wolfbane Productions. They’ve created “The Hannah Reynolds Story,” about an enslaved woman who became the single civilian casualty during that final fight at Appomattox Court House. “They bring excitement and energy to this story that many people aren’t aware of,” Arduini says.
For more information on the American Civil War Museum’s programs, visit acwm.org.
