Scope and Contents Created to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the start of the United States Civil War, this exhibit studies the political, military, and social aspects of the conflict. Exhibits cover such wide-ranging topics as women soldiers, children and the war, Civil War journalism, literature and nursing, Civil War music, African American soldiers and sailors, the Civil War diary of Lyman Chittenden, and Civil War technology. The Coles County and the Civil War exhibit covers Coles County soldiers,...

Scope and Contents

Although he never lived in the county, Abraham Lincoln visited Coles County more than 30 times between 1831 and 1861. He came to the county to visit his parents, practice law, and in 1858 to debate his rival Stephen Douglas. Lincoln’s close relationship with Coles County is explained in this exhibit.

Scope and Contents

African-Americans composed 12% of the Union army during the Civil War and fought in 41 major battles and 449 smaller clashes. This poster exhibit studies the role of African-Americans in the conflict.

Scope and Contents Both the Union and the Confederacy sought for a competitive edge in warfare by utilizing modern (for its time) nineteenth century science and technology. Railroads were used not only to deliver supplies and transport troops, but were also equipped as battering rams and for mobile mortar fire. Scientists made advancements in electric telegraph communications and pioneered efforts to create new technologies such as aerial balloon surveillance, remotely detonated mines, ironclad warships, and...

Scope and Contents

This exhibit depicts the events of March 28, 1864, when a group of Southern sympathizers clashed on Charleston’s courthouse square with a contingent of Union soldiers at home on leave.

Scope and Contents

Looking through tintype photographic images and diary excerpts, viewers may be surprised by glimpses into the lives of children living during the American Civil War. During this tumultuous time, some children were underage soldiers, espionage agents, slaves, and battle siege witnesses.

Scope and Contents

This exhibit uses illustrations and a timeline to examine the political, military, and social aspects of the Civil War, including the origins of the conflict as well as the Reconstruction Era.

Scope and Contents

During the Civil War, hundreds of newspapers throughout the north and south reported and editorialized about the events of this unprecedented American conflict. This exhibit surveys the 1860s American newspaper industry and the crucial role of printed media in disseminating news, opinion, and even visual information such as maps, illustrations, cartoons, and photographs.

Scope and Contents

A suggested reading list of novels dealing with the Civil War, in one way or another, from Ambrose Bierce’s and Stephen Crane’s Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and the more recent Gods and Generals trilogy by Jeff Shaara (1995).

Scope and Contents

Displayed in this exhibit are images showing the wide range of soldiers who fought on both sides of the Civil War, along with actual photographs of individual soldiers from the Union and Confederate armies.