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Ric Burns and Drew Gilpin Faust on stage at the Library of Congress |
One of my favorite parts of working in Washington, D.C. is having access to so much history-oriented content. From events to panel discussions to exhibits, this city does love its American history.
On Wednesday, I was able to squeeze in a lunchtime panel discussion at the Library of Congress about death and the Civil War. As a bonus, it gave me a chance to check out their exhibit, “The Civil War in America.”
Filmmaker Ric Burns (the younger brother of Ken) along with the President of Harvard University, Drew Gilpin Faust discussed Burns’ recent PBS documentary “Death and the Civil War,” which was based on her book “This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War.”
You can watch the extended promo below, purchase it or rent it on Amazon Prime.
During their presentation, they discussed the many ways the deaths that took place during the Civil War permanently transformed the character of American society.
My family tree includes ancestors that fought on both side of the war and it greatly affected the social, religious and economic culture that was developing in Haywood County at the time.
The previous generation had migrated their families to the area just 30 years before and the Civil War forever changed the futures of those who survived.
If you calculate the number of Civil War dead using today’s population numbers, it would be as though seven million of our fellow American citizens were to die.
It was a short discussion and I had to bolt early so I would have time to run through the Civil War exhibit there at the library.
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Entrance to “The Civil War in America” exhibit |
The exhibit includes many personal items from those who experienced the war, some of which have never been on public display. Of course, I was most interested in the aspects that most relate to my own genealogy research. There was so much to see and I was running so late, I had to cut my visit short. I plan on going back before it closes on June 1 so I can see it all.
You can view some of the items they have exhibited on CNN.com.
The Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It’s also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections.
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Waiting in line at Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building |
It’s one of the most beautiful buildings in which I have ever been in the United States and, if you’re ever in Washington, I highly recommend putting it at the top of your list (after the Newseum, of course). I didn’t even mind having to wait in line to get through security.
If you can’t make it to Washington anytime soon, you can always like the Library of Congress on Facebook.
Below are a few photos I grabbed while there.
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| Click to Enlarge Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building |
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| Click to Enlarge Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building |
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| Click to Enlarge Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building |
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Although I was hoofing it back to work as fast as I could, all the Civil War content made it impossible not to stop at the Civil War monument in front of U.S. Capitol. “Calvary Charge” is part of the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial.
Created by sculptor Henry Merwin Shrady, it can also be seen as a monument to those who work a little too hard. Shrady spent 20 years of his life working on the memorial and, according to James Goode, died stressed and overworked, two weeks before its dedication in 1922.
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Calvary Charge in front of the U.S. Capitol |
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Calvary Charge in front of the U.S. Capitol |
He should have slipped out of his studio occasionally and visited the Library of Congress.
For more blog entries, visit my Blog Home Page or to check out the genealogy research about my specific family lines, go to Haywood County Line Genealogy Page.