Museum commemorates the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War with exhibition, Hands-On Tour, Today in the Civil War blog and other special events

PHILADELPHIA — This Spring, the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia, home to an extraordinary and unique Civil War-era collection, continues the museum’s commemoration of Civil War 150 – the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War – through several programs exploring America’s worst conflict.

On Tuesday, March 22, 2011, a second rotation of new objects will be installed in the exhibition The Civil War Begins, on display through Sunday, July 17, 2011. The major exhibition, which opened in December, explores the war’s causes and earliest days, as seen through documents in the Rosenbach’s collection. The museum will also present a special Conversation with the Curator event featuring The Civil War Begins exhibition curator Kathy Haas (March 10) and a Civil War-themed Hands-On Tour (April 17; May 8; May 20; additional dates TBA). The five-year blog project Today in the Civil War continues online at www.rosenbach.org/civilwar, documenting the unfolding conflict of the War through the words of the people who lived it. The museum will also offer a six-session Reading Group of the revolutionary best-selling novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (beginning March 23).

Rich in important materials related to the Civil War, the Rosenbach’s collections include letters and documents by Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and many other political and military leaders, alongside letters from soldiers and materials about slavery and abolition. A full description of Civil War related programs follows below.

The Rosenbach Museum & Library is located at 2008-2010 Delancey Place in Philadelphia and is open Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for students and free for children under 5. Special events are free with the cost of museum admission. For more information, please call (215) 732-1600 or visit www.rosenbach.org.

Schedule of Civil War Programs & Events

Exhibition: The Civil War Begins
On display through Sunday, July 17, 2011

The exhibition The Civil War Begins explores the war’s causes and earliest days, as seen through documents in the Rosenbach’s collection. These documents provide a chance to enter into the rhetoric, mindset, and experience of those who confronted an increasingly divided, and eventually broken, United States. Topics addressed in the exhibition range from the pre-war wrangling over abolition and states’ rights, through the election of Lincoln and the secession winter, to the bombing of Fort Sumter and the advent of armed conflict.

New exhibition highlights on display beginning March 22 include:

• A letter from John Brown to a supporter, written from jail five days before he was executed.

• Three autograph documents by Abraham Lincoln: a fragment of an 1859 speech against slavery; an excerpt of the House Divided speech, written out for an admirer in December 1860; and a note to the Secretary of the Navy requesting a meeting to discuss Fort Sumter.

• A broadside calling upon Missourians to join the south in taking up arms against “Black Republican Despotism.”

• A letter from Jefferson Davis to Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard regarding reinforcements at Manassas.

Today in the Civil Waris curated by Kathy Haas, Assistant Curator, Rosenbach Museum & Library.

Special Event: Conversation with the Curator –The Civil War Begins
Thursday, March 10 from 6pm– 7pm

Meet The Civil War Begins exhibition curator, Kathy Haas and get the inside scoop on her curatorial choices. Ms. Haas will introduce visitors to key aspects of the exhibition and be on hand to answer questions as guests are invited to explore the exhibition further.

Hands-On Tour:The Civil War: Politicians, Soldiers, Citizens
Sunday, April 17; Sunday, May 8; Friday, May 20 from 3pm – 4pm; Additional Spring and Summer dates TBA. No RSVP required, but space is limited.

Hands-On Tours provide visitors with a unique way to experience the museum’s collection as guests are invited to handle and touch historic objects. Join the Rosenbach for a sesquicentennial look at a cross section of Civil War society through The Civil War: Politicians, Soldiers, Citizens. From the writings of Abraham Lincoln, to the wartime letters of Col. Alexander Biddle of the 121st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, to a Confederate children’s textbook, this tour provides a glimpse into the lives and thoughts of those who shaped and survived America’s worst conflict.

Online Project: Today in the Civil War Blog
Ongoing at www.rosenbach.org/civilwar

The Rosenbach Museum & Library blog Today in the Civil Warpresents the unfolding saga of the War through a rare look at Civil War-era manuscripts, newspapers, photos, and printed books. Today in the Civil War, which launched on November 6, 2010, the 150th anniversary of the election of Abraham Lincoln, will run for five-years through April 2015, the full duration of the War. Documents presented on the blog include diaries and letters from ordinary civilians and soldiers, along with material from Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, P.G.T. Beauregard, Elmer Ellsworth, Belle Boyd, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and many others. Documents bearing an exact date (e.g. letters, newspapers) are posted to the blog on that date (150 years later), recreating the progression of the war for readers who will be able to follow recurring characters and themes over time as well as enjoy singular documents from famous figures.

Reading Group: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Wednesdays from 6pm – 7:45pm, March 23 and 30; April 13 and 27; May 18 and 25

Uncle Tom’s Cabinby Harriet Beecher Stowe,the bestselling novel of the 19th century, provides a powerful, historical look at the treatment of slaves in the pre-Civil War South. Over 300,000 copies sold in the very first year of its publication in 1852, with well over a million sold by the end of the century. Today, the novel has been translated into dozens of languages and has never gone out of print. The Rosenbach’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin reading group will discuss why the novel proved so powerful for its readers, creating fervent admirers and equally vehement critics, while also considering the role of literature as an agent of social change. During several sessions, the group will take a closer look at material related to the book from the museum’s collections. The reading group will be led by Peter Schmidt, Chair of the Department of English Literature at Swarthmore College and a specialist in American Literature. To learn more, view the syllabus online.

Course price is $205 for Rosenbach Museum & Library members, $250 for non-members. One year’s museum membership is included in non-member tuition. Tuition assistance is available for a limited number of individuals on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration is required. Contact rsvp [at] rosenbach [dot] org, or call (215) 732-1600 ext.123 for more information.

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Image Credits (Access files in the Downloads section above):

1. File name: Rosenbach-Ellsworth photograph.jpg
Credit: Matthew Brady, photograph of Elmer Ellsworth. Courtesy of the Rosenbach Museum & Library.

2. File name: Rosenbach-Charleston Mercury 4-13-1861.jpg
Credit: Charleston Mercury. 13 April 1861. Courtesy of the Rosenbach Museum & Library.

3. File name: Rosenbach-War Declared.jpg
Credit: War Declared!! [Potosi?, Missouri: 1861]. Courtesy of the Rosenbach Museum & Library.