Merry Christmas!

                Hey everyone! I hope you have all been having a great holiday season so far! The museum has been buzzing with activity of all sorts lately.  We are still in full holiday mode here and have working hard to talk to people about what Christmas was like during the Civil War as well as doing all of our regular medical education.  Soldiers don’t stop getting Dysentery and surgeons don’t stop doing amputations because it’s Christmas so we’ll keep on educating everyone we see.  We’re also very festive here though and we have decorated our main entrance with garland, wreaths and a Christmas tree.  Our front display was also gone over and I really quite like it! Myself, well I’ve been busy too.  I’ve been working with the staff as usual on projects like the Missing Soldiers Roll, research and prepping for my imminent presentation.  It’s been very enjoyable to me since I really enjoy this time of year.  I was hoping it would be snowing by now but no such luck. 

                Two weeks ago we had our Christmas party and it was great.  Everyone dressed up and we all got to relax and talk with people we don’t get to see very often.  I got to meet a lot of volunteers I have only spoken with on the phone and we all watched the parade that went through downtown from our windows.  It was a great parade to watch because it had music, dancing, costumes galore and lots of involvement from the local children.  I saw more boy and girl scouts that night than I ever have before.  They wore all sorts of cute costumes like presents and Santa suits.  A lot of them were excited to see us in the windows and waved to us and we gladly waved back.  The lights in the trees and the marching bands playing Christmas music all made it a very nice night. 

                This week for my blog though I don’t want to spend time writing about our party or the lights in the trees but rather how  Civil War soldiers celebrated the holiday during the difficult years of the war.  It seems very fitting to write about this Christmas Day recently happened.  The Civil War lasted four long years and so a lot of time soldiers and their families were apart on the holidays.  By 1861 Christmas was already established as an accepted holiday by the majority of Americans.  It had traditions such as the Christmas tree (which had its roots in Germany), eating desserts, foods such as turkey and ham and spending time with loved ones.  Modern Americans would be able to recognize their celebrations of Christ, Santa Claus and joy of the season.  The war put a strain on these traditions so that children missed out on bonding with male relatives, in places such as the South gifts under the tree and in stockings became less opulent and women missed the companionship.  Of course everyone made due though because that’s what was necessary in a time of war.  The letters left behind speak volumes about how the soldiers felt about being away from home during this time and what they did. 

Harper's Weekly

                “With what a different feeling do I pass this Christmas Day from what I have spent similar days in the past! It has been my fortunate luck in the past to enjoy the festivities of this day…amid the endearment of home friends.  I am now deprived of that blessed priviledge,” wrote a young Confederate named William.  It is short but this part of his letter perfectly sums up the idea that they miss the gaiety of the holidays with their families and friends in a carefree and safe environment.  One Union solider, Samuel J. Alexander of the 62nd Pennsylvania wrote a sad missive to his wife.  “One of our mess got a box from home on Christmas Eve containing a large roasted turkey and several other good things.  So we had the pleasure of eating a very good Christmas dinner but I was not as happy as I was when I ate my Christmas dinner one year ago with my dear wife and I hope before another Christmas rolls around that we may be together never more to part.” Good food brightened their day but even Samuel wished he could have been with his wife more than anything.

Harper's Weekly

                Aside from missing their families there were things to occupy the soldiers time in camp. Guard duty and other work had to be done everyday along with other necessities.  However, in light of the Christmas day often officers went easier on the rules or turned the other way so to speak.  “Our commanders were kind enough to dispense with all but necessary duties to-day.” wrote Captain Henry A. Chambers of the 49^th North Carolina.  James Hall of Manigault’s Brigade of Alabamians and South Carolinians wrote of how they entertained themselves.  “We tried to make a Christmas of it here.  We have had foot races, wrestling and base [ball] playing.  All the officers in our brigade…ran a foot race.  and a rare time we had of it.” David Humphrey of the 45^th Ohio wrote a lively account of how they passed the day.  “We had a pretty Merry Christmas today and it made me think of home.  We had a brass band in camp which almost charms one that has not heard any sich musick for 5 or 6 months and we had several darkies with their fiddles.  And the boys danced and played ball and pitche horse shoes etc. etc all day and the sutler gave a treat of a barrel of apples to each Co. in the morning and the officers gave us all the oysters and fresh sausage we could eat for supper…” I am glad to see that they did not spend all their time moping around but were able to celebrate the holiday somewhat.  The soldiers were able to experience some happiness during a time of cruel war. 

Harper's Weekly, soldiers opening a box full of clothing received near the holiday.

                It sounds to me as if they experienced the same wants and needs we have today.  We aren’t so different from people 150 years ago.  Because of the war they couldn’t always be with the people they wished to and so they just marked the day in the best way they could.  Sometimes that meant music, races, less daily work or food better than the average rations.  Reading about battles I sometimes feel a disconnect between myself and the people but reading these accounts made it all sound very human and personal to me.  I could understand the soldiers and their desire to be with loved ones or eat a meal that reminded them of home.  I have felt that way myself when I am away from family and the holidays draw near.  The book I got my information from was one that came highly recommended to me by the staff here at the museum.  Kevin Rawlings wrote We Were Marching on Christmas Day: A History and Chronicle of Christmas during the Civil War (1995) because of his interest in this special topic.  I enjoyed because it in an entire book that focuses on one part of the war and backs up everything with quotes. Historians like me love quotes because it is a great way to prove a point and make a strong case! Anyway, I hope I was able to teach you a little about Christmas for the soldiers and that you enjoyed reading this! I’ll talk to you soon when I’ll have lots more exciting things to share! 

Giving Tours to Doctors!

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving and/or relaxing week! I went and visited family up in the northeast.  Lots of fun seeing them, eating good food and playing in snow.  What I want to blog about today is something I don’t think I have covered too much in prior posts and that is giving tours.  I have always wanted to give tours because I love interacting with people so I was thrilled to pass my docent test a few weeks back.  Tours are fun because I like giving information to people, telling stories and learning from them.  They can ask questions that further challenge me to learn things I may not know a lot about yet.  I’ve given a handful of tours in the past few days and they were all fantastic.  On Monday I gave a tour to an orthopedic surgeon who teaches in a school a few hours away.   
 The tour on Monday was fun because he visited because he was considering bringing medical students into the museum.  A lot of our visitors are people that work or did work in the medical field so I was excited.  In every room, he had lots of questions to ask me.  Some I had heard a lot such as “did they really spend so much time in camp?” Yes, yes they did spend an obscene amount of time in camp.  I mean Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was together all four years of the war but they were only in combat about 45 days.  That leaves a LOT of free time.  He of course had more unusual ones relating to bones and surgeries but as a surgeon specializing in it how could he not?

                A number of our galleries have bones in them and I think he really enjoyed those areas the most.  We have a model skeleton foot in our Heroic Medicine room and he pointed out that it is upside down possibly! Uh oh! He is the second orthopedic surgeon to point this out this week though so I think they may be on to something.  Our curator says though that as a teaching tool it was bolted to the wood and was probably done on purpose so students could see the underside of the foot.   Also in the amputation room he enjoyed hearing about how surgeries were performed and why.  Remember, biting the bullet is a myth! They had anesthesia back then and they used it! Bullets are choking hazards! I liked talking about how the soft lead bullets shatter bone though because I feel like he was genuinely interested in understanding how surgeons were not butchers back then.  By explaining how the ammunition deforms and then shatters bone all while dragging dirt, debris and gun powder through the wound , I was able to explain how amputations were done not because of laziness or surgeons wanting to be sawbones but because they were medically necessary to prevent gangrene, sepsis and infection! A shattered bone is almost impossible to fix today and in the 1860s.  Believe me and thousands of doctors, amputations saved lives back then.   

                He also enjoyed looking at the mummified arm because it showed bone within flesh that had suffered a traumatic injury.  He was also able to confirm what the Smithsonian had told us and that is that the arm belonged to a teenager still growing because the growth plates were visible in the x-ray.  Later on I showed him the six bones we have that showed soldiers that stayed in Frederick during the war.  These bones I think are very effective at showing the damage the bullets did because they are completely rent by the ammunition.  Finally, it was all connected back into modern medicine because the foundation for today’s medicine was laid 150 years ago by Dr. Jonathon Letterman and other innovators.  The scalpels, tourniquets, prosthetics and more is all very similar to what was used by the Union and Confederacy. 

                I am always happy to give tours and especially happy to do when I know that someone has enjoyed them so much.  I hope to seethe surgeon and his students back because I feel like there is so much to learn from the past still.  

One of the bone exhibits we have on display.  Artifact on loan from the National Institute of Health and Medicine.

Running around and Remembrance Day at Gettysburg!

Hi everyone! It feels like it has been awhile since I’ve written anything.  Well, I’m glad to report that I’ve been staying busy at the museum.  I took my docent test and now I can give tours so I’m really happy to be doing that finally! I really enjoy giving tours because I like talking with other people and enjoy teaching others as well as hearing their thoughts on the subject.  I also went to Washington D.C. again but this time with our executive director George.  We were looking for the original key-hole covers that would have been on the doors when Clara Barton was there from 1865-68.  We thought it would take awhile of digging around in the basement but found them in about 10 minutes in a box by the door.  Quite the stroke of luck! The drive back to the museum was interesting because we saw two very large Blackhawk helicopters.  My coworkers have all seen them before and are quite jaded to it but I was surprised to see them much less the cargo they carried.  I was told that they were equipped with missiles.  That was a surprise to me! I did not expect on a peaceful day to see two helicopters holding missiles flying over the river. It was a sight to see for me.

                What I really want to tell you all about is what I did this past Saturday.  I drove to Gettysburg and saw the Remembrance Day parade and then walked all around talking to reenactors and seeing the stores.  It was really exciting for me because I have never seen so many people in Civil War costumes before in my life.  People in period garb were everywhere! I was taking photos (with their permission) left and right.  I got there a bit before the parade so I wandered around where they were all hanging out, just talking and taking photographs.  It was so fantastic! I saw people dressed as average soldiers, widows and as specific people.  Such as Lincoln, Pope, Grant, Lee and other generals.  The variety in uniforms was great too! Tall hats, average kepis, piping on sleeves, furs, overcoats and so much more.  The women showed up too and the dresses were so colorful (excepting the widows in all black).  They must have been very cold though since it was only about 40 degrees that day. 

Getting ready to start the parade.

Found Grant and Lincoln.

Southern Zouaves.

                I was like a kid in a candy shop.  When they all went marching by I loved seeing them all in sync.  The shoes made a great clacking noise as they stepped and the bands played great period music.  Other groups sang or chanted as they went by and others hollered out in happiness.  It was a great thing to watch.  After the parade ended I went into a bunch of the shops to see what there was.  Some were very touristy (of course), some geared toward reenactors, and some held very expensive replicas and actual items and some were in between.  I eventually went to a restaurant where a reenactor band was playing music and hung out with a fun group from Delaware.  It was fun to hear their stories about parades and reenacting on this side of the country and I told them a bit about the ones I had seen back home. They thought it was funny that we didn’t do a specific battle and that we had only about 100 reenactors but a horse drawn artillery.  I really enjoyed socializing with the group and I hope I’ll see them again sometime soon. 

A group of Southern generals.

Northern Zouaves.

                It was a fantastic way to spend a Saturday with tons of people with a common interest.  The weather was beautiful, with good music and food, the night was a blast as well.  Maybe in a year I’ll be wearing a period outfit as well!

Beginning of the parade!

One of the many bands that went by.

Coming over the hill and down the road.

Traffic jam of the boys in blue.

Marching on by.

Enjoying the weather and the fantastic parade!

His presence was so commanding I just had to include him.

The beginning of the Confederate portion of the parade.  My camera died right after this.

Night at the Museum: Civil War Edition

Hello everyone! Hope you all enjoyed Halloween because I sure did! We had a big event at the museum to celebrate and educate visitors that evening called A Night at the Museum: Behind the Screams Tour.  The premise was to tell ghost stories that Civil War soldiers would have known, talk about the different ghost encounters staff have had in our building (since it is allegedly the most haunted in the city and there was an embalming business here for over 100 years) because there have been many.  The guides also mentioned some of the more interesting things relating to the war such as spiritualism’s growing popularity as people sought to connect with deceased relatives and glowing wounds from the Battle of Shiloh. 

                I was not involved directly with the tours or storytelling so I did not get to walk around the darkened museum at night with a lantern but I was still here working.  Almost all of the staff dressed in period attire with only a few exceptions.  Because I was assigned to the front desk for the night I was lent a costume.  One might assume, as I did, that I would be putting on the dress and doing up the hair then calling it a day but the museum strives for being as authentic as possible which means all the clothing must be as close to accurate as possible.  Farby is a term used by reenactors to describe clothing that has modern conveniences or other non-accurate items such as zippers, incorrect material or patterns, etc.  The goal was to dress me with me minimal farby and boy did we do well for the first time in my opinion. 

                I wore pantaloons (think of them as chaps honestly), a chemise (like a VERY large nightgown that would be tucked into the pantaloons), a corset that goes over that (mine was a little too big so it wasn’t very tight thankfully), then a hoop that gives a lovely bell shape and then finally the dress.  It was a dashing yellow dress with tiny pink and blue flowers on it and a nice blue ribbon was used a belt.  The collar had a cameo on it and both it and the belt were straight pinned on (as was accurate for the time).  All in all the dress wasn’t horribly uncomfortable I have to say.  It did start to feel a bit heavy after a few hours but it wasn’t anything unbearable.  April braided my hair as well so I looked every bit the typical person of the time.

Audrey, myself and Tracey looking good in our period wear.

                During the event I stayed up front with Kacie and Meg and we rang up purchases, checked in visitors and handling anything that came up.  I helped Meg created a glowing wound on one soldier’s face (which kept dimming so we had to “re-glow” him so to speak every once in awhile) and sometimes I walked outside.  A lot of the visitors seemed to really enjoy the ghost tours so I am happy we able to give them that kind of unique experience.  I didn’t hear about any visitors seeing anything unusual that night but our staff did.  Meg saw things move of their own accord on the third floor and Jake along with others saw flickering lights on the second floor.  I can promise you it was not us playing pranks on each other but something that many believe are genuine encounters.  Much of the staff here believe they have had encounters as do the volunteers so this can be a pretty spooky place to work.  I, myself have not had experiences or anything thankfully but a lot of these stories have made me a little jumpy to tell the truth.  Every single room in this building has a story attached to it and the staff are more than willing to share so it has become hard to not think about it when I walk around for tours or other business. 

                The night was great though and because we got such a great turnout (every tour sold out) the museum is thinking of doing it again later this month! We definitely will be doing it again next Halloween though.  Enjoy the pic of me in my lovely period wear because I sure do.  Audrey and Tracey and seasoned reenactors and they were tons of fun to talk to that night.  I hope I get to work with them again soon!

P.S. I’m a docent now! I passed my test so I get to start giving tours! 

Working in Washington D.C.!

        Hi again everyone! For this fun post I get to talk about one of our satellite museums, the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office in Washington D.C.  So far I have only worked in the main museum with a few trips out but this weekend I was assigned to D.C.  It was very exciting for me because I have heard so many good things about it such as the originality of the building and such an intimate connection to Clara Barton and her post Civil War work.  I took the Metro to D.C. with a coworker, Emily, and she gave me a private tour of the place which I really enjoyed because she was able to teach me so much about Clara’s work there.  Through private study and the museum I have really upped my knowledge of her but to see the spaces she worked and lived in really brought it home to me.  I was definitely loving it.

The original sign Clara Barton hung up at the Missing Soldiers Office.  On loan from U.S. General Services Administration.

                A little backstory on the building is that from 1865 to 1868 Clara rented a series of rooms on the third floor.  It is only a few blocks from the National Mall and the Patent Building that she once worked at.  She and her small staff worked in this building (she had her own bedroom as well) where they responded to both in-person visitors and letters  relating to soldiers that had unknown fates during the war.  Soldiers were often buried on or near battlefields and in order for a family to secure a pension or have the comfort of knowing where a loved one was buried they came to Clara Barton often.  Her office eventually succeeded in finding approximately 22,000 soldiers.  After that she placed many of her belongings in the attic of this building and the third floor was boarded up.  I find it really hard to believe but the third floor where she did so much good was basically forgotten about until the 1990s when the building was slated for demolition.  I mean, how do you lose a whole floor of building in a highly desirable city where real estate is slim? I’ll never know but it did happen.

                In 1997 Richard Lyons went up into the previously boarded up floor and began poking around the attic.  In there he discovered socks, documents, and all sorts of other items and he saw the historic signifcance of it all.  After that it was worked a little bit to make it a bit safer such as putting in an elevator and redoing wallpaper but other than that it is all original as Clara Barton left it in 1868.  I could not believe the fantastic condition of everything.  It was just like Pry House except arguably better.  The floors were completely original so Clara and hundreds of others walked those very floorboards and the doors were original so I opened doors that so many others did as they sought answers about their loved ones.  Because it was locked up and undiscovered for so  long the  place isn’t  wired up with electricity and plumbing.  It is a virtually untouched time capsule of rooms from 1868.  It’s like striking the historic lottery and winning! The wallpaper in a vast majority of the rooms were recreations of the patterns and colors that were selected by Clara so that was very cool to see.  They aren’t like the patterns I am used to seeing so it was very cool to see what she selected.  They really stood out as well in the empty rooms. In one room there is a cutout of Clara and in her bedroom (where the discovery was made) there is Lyons ladder the hole in the ceiling but otherwise the space is pure and empty. 

Clara Barton's bedroom in the MSO with replica wallpaper and original floor.  The ladder is Richard Lyons along with the hole to the attic.

                One of my favorite bits beyond the original floor and doors was the sections that still had original wallpaper on them.  Since it’s been almost 150 years it has of course faded and been damaged with time so the bright pinks and blues she chose are gone but the fabric remains.  Much it has been removed and replaced with the recreations but in some spots it was left so that visitors could see it.  I really loved it because most of the time the pattern could be seen and it blended flawlessly with the modern parts.  I have not seen stuff like that before so I really appreciated the effort to keep the original stuff.  In some places signatures could be seen of the people who put the wallpaper with the year which was also fantastic.  All of these spots are covered with protective layers to prevent further damage. 

Posing with a section of original wallpaper.  The pattern blends flawlessly  with the rest when looked at closely.

                I was like a kid in a candy shop asking Emily to take pictures of me with various parts because you had better believe that I was going to document this trip.  I felt so lucky and fortunate to be able to walk around the place Clara Barton on the floor she did with the doors and wallpaper.  Just like seeing her birthplace I know it is not the place that was remarkable but the person but I mean come on…everyone needs to have something to geek out over and I do it with historic artifacts.  Time capsule  buildings don’t exist everywhere and this one is so perfect.  It was heavenly.

The  orignal number 9 door that people would have come to see her at.  There is a small mail slot on the lower left of the door.  It cost her 50 cents to install it.

                Emily finished my tour by showing me the original staircase used by Clara and countless others to go directly to the Missing Soldiers Office. It was a very long and tall staircase since it went from street level all the way to the third floor.  She pointed out the section of wall a little way from the top where the barrier began that had hid the third floor away from people for so long.  There was lots of natural light from the street and windows in the middle of the building.  The floorboards were worn but still fantastic considering their age.  There is a runner placed over them now for protection but you can still see the steps, the color and everything else.  Again I nerded out and took lots of pictures. 

View from third floor to street level entrance.  The wall that blocked access to third floor can be seen on the right about half way down the stairs .

                Clara Barton and her work in the missing soldiers office was instrumental to the postwar years by helping so many find the answers they desperately sought.  This kind of a discovery is rare and deserves to be treated with great respect and I am very happy to have such an opportunity to visit it like I did.  I spent the rest of the day downstairs working with visitors who I hope enjoyed this time capsule as much as I did.  We had a family of six come in who were big Clara Barton (they had recently visited her Glen Echo home), a few nice couples and a man from England.  The main museum is a historic building but it often doesn’t feel like it so it was nice to work in a building that did feel historic.  Anyways, lots of stuff to do today so I’ll you all later because I might start giving tours later this week!   

Did you say Clara Barton?

                Alright then everyone I am back with another blog! This one is a bit early and short because I had an exciting weekend and I just had to tell you all! I had the opportunity to visit with some family.  My cousin was a trooper and drove down to get me so major props to him. I haven’t seen any of them in a very long time so I went to Massachusetts for some quality bonding time.  While I went there for family fun I also did some unintentional work because my cousin mentioned something offhand to me. As we were driving around admiring some beautiful New England fall foliage (it really is something quite spectacular to see) we stopped  to get some gas.  I had asked what there was in the area  to do  besides admire the leaves and he mentioned an old house related to Clara Barton.  I immediately got excited and asked if he was serious.  I  mean how many Clara Barton’s can there be? He said it was an old house not too far from our location so I said we had to go see it.  I told him if this was what I thought it could be than it would be great because we have a whole exhibit here at the museum about Clara Barton plus our newest satellite museum in D.C., the Clara Barton Missing Soldier’s Office museum.  Everyone at work would be interested to hear about this.

                While we drove there we passed the most beautiful little stream with a stone bridge that we stopped at for more pictures.  Massachusetts really is jaw-droppingly beautiful in the fall and I absolutely recommend visiting if  you can.  We found Clara Barton Road (what else could you name the street she was born on?) and passed many houses before we got to the very end of the street past a Diabetes care center also named after her.  This was the Clara Barton birthplace.  The house is a lovely two story building next to a carriage house.  It has white paint and green trim with a green door with a knocker.  It sits on the corner and has a large sign to mark the significance of that building.  I stood there for a few minutes in awe of  the building   Clara Barton, one of the most famous women of the Civil War, had been born and lived here a period of time. 

The front of her home.  Just visible is the name of the street, Clara Barton Road.

                Clara Barton, if you don’t know already, was nicknamed the Angel of the Battlefield due to her services as a nurse during the Civil War.  She was at some of the most well known battles including Antietam where she was famously shot through the sleeve while nursing a dying soldier (the bullet that missed her killed him).  She collected food and bandages as well as donated her own money to help supply the soldiers and often brought them sweets.  After the war ended in 1865, she opened the Missing Soldiers Office in Washington, D.C. where for three years she helped families identify and/or locate their loved ones.  Many soldiers went missing or lost contact with family and she helped families find the bodies so that many received the comfort of knowing what happened to them or could secure pensions.  Her office eventually found over 22,000 soldiers in three years.  Eventually she founded the American Red Cross which still works actively to this day bringing aid to everyone.  One heck of a person if you ask me.

                I know that the house didn’t do anything special and that it was what she eventually became that was so special about her but it was still very cool of my cousin to show me this house.  We came late in the day so it was closed to visitors but I might just try to go back someday when it is open.  Maybe I can talk to them about all the stuff we have here at the museum like her trunk bed, her Missing Soldiers Office sign or other items.  I would love to get a tour of her childhood home since I imagine the inside is as nice as the outside. 

The sign so there can't be any mistaking where I was.

                I didn’t plan to see anything work related this past weekend but to see Clara Barton’s birthplace home…well, it definitely was a big part of why I enjoyed that day so much. 

Enjoy this beautiful picture as well.

Collections room tour!

                               This week was definitely very enjoyable for me here at the museum since I have a lot of different things going on right now.  I survived my weekend shift.  Hooray! The museum was VERY VERY busy on Saturday and a bit on Sunday but people told me that was to be expected.  It was nice seeing downtown a lot more active that it usually is.  Got to meet a lot of different people as well.  I did promise that I would write about my tour of the collections room that Lori the curator was giving me so let’s get to it.  It did indeed happen and I went through with some other staff.  It was very exciting to see all of the different things we have in that room since these are the artifacts not on display currently (for various reasons such as needing a break from being exhibited, too fragile or does not fit in a current exhibit theme).  The room is one large space with tons of enormous filing cabinets that go on average to about chest height or maybe a little more.  Some resembled closets as well because they were so tall and had swinging doors and on the far side of the room nearest the entrance was several large shelves that held the largest items.  Lori began the tour in the back room with artifacts that were hanging on the wall.  It included things like paintings, some framed documents and currency used during the war. 

                I knew beforehand that I would be interested in everything in this room but I did linger in a few places more than the others.  One was at the wall since I had never seen genuine money from the time before, only copies.  A small distance away and inside a cabinet Lori pulled out two documents that had been signed by President Lincoln and President Johnson.  I definitely became excited here since I have not seen an original document signed by Lincoln before.  Some in the group had before so they didn’t share my excitement  level but we all oo’d over the original still.  The document was in great condition and none of its color or ink had faded in the decades since it had been signed.  I am probably reading too much into it but it is great to “geek out” as Lori says because we all have things we are passionate over and I am glad that I can live out my passion here in the museum with others who share it.  Before my arrival here I didn’t know many people who would want to willingly stare at a piece of paper just because Lincoln signed it.

                We then saw the tall cabinets that were filled with books from the time about medical care and other related topics.  Books during the 19^th century had covers that were so much more colorful and detailed I think.   Lots of different colors and fonts on the covers with little designs or just plain and simple.  It was an impressive collection that in order to be preserved needs to be handled very little so I’ll just have to look for modern reprints if I want to read them.  Oh the life of a historian.  I want to touch it but in order to keep it for future generations I have to not. 

                Lori continued to open the short cabinets and pulled out artifacts such as the amputation kits, stethoscopes, bottles (which were sometimes very colorful depending on what kind of liquid had been inside) and the personal items of soldiers.  One very clever item we saw was a collapsible mirror used for shaving.  The glass had broken away from the wooden frame so the soldier had used wax to hold it in place and it was still there all this time later.  There was also a collapsible cup in the same drawer.  A favorite of everyone present though was when we got to the drawer that held some Clara Barton items.  Lori first pulled the original sign Barton had hung up to show the location of her Missing Soldiers Office. Many people are often surprised at how tiny the sign is and it is true, it is definitely small.  The paint has held up and the four small holes she put through it are still in good shape.  You can just see them in the picture.

The original sign Barton hung up.  On loan from U.S. General Services Administration.

            We have a small collection of firearms with the bullets in a box and so we viewed those as well.  While I did not handle the guns myself (which was fine by me), Lori did.  She held them up and showed us the detail along one of them which was a scene containing multiple ships sailing by.  I really liked that touch because I just feel like more craftsmanship was on items in the past and now it is all factory produced in a hurry and everything is the same.  This gun could have a duplicate somewhere but to me it seems like an original.  She said that the guns also felt very light and natural to hold unlike some modern guns which felt more cumbersome to her.  The box of bullets was also very small and old but again, was in fantastic condition considering how much time had elapsed since they were made. 

The two guns with holster and bullet box.

                There was also a rubberized tent cover that soldiers would connect to each other in order to stay dry in wet weather.  In most cases two soldiers would connect theirs together but Lori has heard of three being attached sometimes.  The condition of this item was great but it was carefully folded into a box and covered so we did not view it all spread out.  You can still see the words and the rubber actually so it was impressive to view this item.  It is on loan to us as the moment as is the Clara Barton items from the U.S. General Services Administration. 

The rubberized tent cover.  On loan from U.S. General Services Administration.

                I was silly and forgot my camera that day I did not take any pictures so credit to Sara for letting me use the ones she took.  There are several artifacts I do not have pictures that I was very excited to see.  The signed Lincoln document was the first one and then we have two coats, one Union and one Confederate very carefully covered and cared for.   These are among the first real coats I have seen (I have definitely seen some of the coats worn by medical personnel we have in our exhibits) and the condition was amazing! The colors were still bright with no discernable damage and I was only feet away.  The urge to feel them was intense but the historian in me knows better.  Don’t touch the artifacts! There were also boots owned by a surgeon and the nail head could be seen in the sole.  Cool stuff!

                There were also collapsible chairs used in the camps, a number of stretchers and even a dentist chair that had two attachments (the table for holding tools and a frame that would have held the bowl to be spit into).  One of the very last things we looked at was the mummified hand.  Lori carefully removed it so that we could look at it and I saw that part of the palm had some kind of wound (tendons and other internal parts were visible) and that it was broken off near the elbow.  Lori said that testing had been done on the arm and it was determined that the limb was shot off, not amputated.  The limb had likely belonged to a young, white male around 17 years old.  It  had been found at the Antietam battlefield not too far from here.  On the 31^st this month the limb will be displayed as part of our special Halloween tour.  I think people will like to see it because hey, who wouldn’t want to meet (part of ) a Civil War veteran in the (mummified) flesh? Any laughs? Oh well, I laughed. 

                Well, I’ll see you all later with more news from the museum.

Continuing along...

Hi everybody! It’s Thursday again and this week I’ve been keeping busy as usual.  I didn’t travel anywhere this week but I have some plans to travel possibly so I’m super excited for that (more on that next week!).  For now though I have been working on the computer upstairs and then downstairs in admissions and the gift shop.  It is nice to get the change of pace going and I definitely get to interact with the public a lot when I am downstairs.  The office is also feeling loud and alive again now that everyone is back. 

                I have spent every morning this week working on the surveys that were taken during the conference in Georgia.  I need to take forty-odd surveys and make them into one easy to read table for the rest of the staff here.  I thought it would be quick work and done easily but I was mistaken.  Everyone is eager to hear what the attendees wrote down though so I need to get this completed but that will not be until early next week because I have a few projects to complete as well.  The results are interesting though because the vast majority of attendees gave everything 4’s and 5’s which is a positive sign and there were just a few that ranked things poorly.   I guess not everyone liked the food but hey, most people did so I chalk that up as a win.

In the process of being decorated for Halloween,

                Anyway, besides that I’ve been spending  the afternoons down at admissions and the gift shop.  I will be working by myself with Emily on hand if I need her this weekend so I need the practice closing up.  I like it downstairs because I get to talk to people and maybe tell them something they don’t know or learn from them.  A lot of people that visit us here are surprised at the artifacts we have such as the amputation table from Cedar Creek, surgeon  John C. Wiley of the 6^th New Jersey’s tent (one o f a kind) or that we’re among the most haunted buildings here in town.  That doesn’t deter people though (often it attracts them).  We get a lot of medical professionals coming through here so it is nice to hear their interest in the Civil War and often the foundation it has in their modern career.  After they go through I often ask how medicine compares from 150 years ago to now and many find it shockingly similar.  We will find out Monday though how my weekend working here went so stay tuned!

                So I have lots to finish  next week when I get back.  It should be fun because I will be getting to tour the Collections room with Lori the curator and a few other staff.  In that room is all the stuff that is not on display in the museum so it should be awesome.  I’ll get to see documents, photos, more amputation and medical kits along with a mummified hand from Antietam! I’ll try to get pictures for everyone.  Until next week!

Calm but interesting...also cake!

                Hi everyone! This week had the museum has been really good.  It has calmed down for me and gotten a bit more stable since Monday because I was given a bit more of a schedule and deadlines on projects to work on.  Last week was nice since it was my first week and I was watching and learning while being eased into things but now I’m watching/learning and doing some work for the museum with a few writing and researching projects.  It wasn’t without its fun though because here I’m always learning something new and interesting about the Civil War.

                I got to watch three tours this week with docents which meant watching them give a group a tour of the museum while I followed like a quiet shadow.  It was interesting to see because they are very experienced in giving guided tours and are highly knowledgeable about the artifacts and the period itself.  Each tour takes about an hour to do both floors and I saw them do large and small groups as I followed along quietly.  Sometimes people would ask me questions though.  Each followed the same basic pattern when they entered a room of pointing out certain things or mentioning certain facts but they also each had details that they alone mentioned.  One mentioned George Washington and cupping during the time of Heroic medicine and another the value of real Civil War surgeon’s kits being available to view.  It makes me wonder what my personal touch will be when I do a tour.

One day after following a tour I joined Kyle on a bus as he gave a tour of Antietam battlefield.  It was a small group and I sat a few rows behind everyone and listened.  It was much the same as when Kyle showed me Antietam last week.  We stopped at the same places and we all listened as he described troop movement, names and events in detail.  Just like I was amazed at his memory last week, this time all the visitors were amazed this week.  When the tour ended they all mentioned how much they enjoyed it too.

                This week the museum staff also gave me some more responsibilities.  I worked a bit on the booklet that will be distributed at the Letterman Award dinner we’re having later this month.  The dinner honors and awards those that are making an outstanding contribution to improving modern medicine and patient outcomes.  The nominee’s bios are amazing to read and I am really glad we have medical innovators and practitioners like that in the world.  There is always room for improvement right? I have also been researching roundtables in Maryland and in the states around us.  Delaware and Maryland don’t have that many but man does Pennsylvania!  My list is almost done though after I get through Virginia and West Virginia.  Some of the speaker lists are quite impressive and it’s fun to find names I recognize.  I’ve seen some of our docents on the lists and some authors I am a fan of reading.  Maybe they will come speak here someday soon and I will see them in person? *fingers crossed*

                I’ve been working on this blog as well.  I see this as a journal of sorts except instead of it being private for my eyes only this is a very public one that I put online.  My hopes with this blog and writing about what I do in the museum is to inspire others to become interested in history and/or apply to be interns here themselves.  Everyday I learn something new from the people who work here and they are extremely friendly.  I go home happy and I come to work happy everyday.  Moving from California is hard (everyone including roommates,  who love to tell how me how cold this winter will be, it’s almost like Game of Thrones with “Winter is coming!”) but I think that the museum has given me a good support system. 

                A lot of staff are also getting ready for our annual conference that will happen later this week.  It’s been happening annually for over twenty years and this is the first time it will take place in Georgia so there’s a lot for them to prepare.  George will be taking the ballistics gel we shot at earlier this week along with the presentation he has to go with it.  He will be going along with a few other members and I think the conference will be successful.  How can it not when you have such a great team? They left earlier today and Tom left last night since he’s driving down and the rest are flying.  They will all be back Monday though.  I’m excited to see the pictures and hear how it went.

Beginning the conference.

                The colonel’s promotion in the conference room was also today so we had tons of military in the museum.  Two enormous cakes with “congratulations” and with the seal of the United State of America were brought in this morning as I walked in.  Some people were dressed in camouflage, others in formal wear and others in dress blues.  I was upstairs all morning so I did not see the ceremony but I imagine it went off without a hitch.  When I cam downstairs for lunch Katie stopped me and said I should go up to have some of the leftovers from the ceremony.  We both went up and had some delicious sandwiches and loaded potatoes (my favorite) and then some cake! I’ve been wanting cake for awhile so this was the perfect opportunity to have some!  I laughed a bit when my slice said ‘MERICA.’ Congratulations to the now former colonel on the promotion!

                I spent the rest of the day working with Jenna downstairs and it was a fairly quiet Friday afternoon since the promotion ceremony was over and some of our staff was gone.  I’m getting more efficient with the store and admissions though so I’m seeing my work speed improve already.  Fingers crossed that week three is as historically awesome as this one was. 

Historic gun firing and ballistic gel fun!

                Hi everyone! In this week’s intern diaries my first entry will start off with a bang! And I do mean that literally!

                Monday morning I went to the local police department’s firing range with our Executive Director George.  We were going to be firing a replica 1850 rifle with realistically weighted molds of Civil War bullets into ballistic gel.  This exercise was broken into several parts. 

1.        Place realistic uniform fabrics from both Union and Confederate troops over the ballistic gel with lots of dirt and/or mud rubbed into the fabric.

2.        Fire bullets into the gel to see what sort of particulate if any is dragged through and if so how far.

3.        Evaluate the effects this could have had on the wounds and survivability of troops.

                We set the gel up at a fair distance from our firing point and pinned Union jacket, Union pant and Confederate coat replica materials to it.  Each had dirt rubbed into them and one had mud to represent first hand accounts of what uniforms sometimes looked like after a hard march.  We then moved a large wooden stand to help us ensure rifle accuracy and I watched as an ENORMOUS spider crawl off of  it and onto George.  I can’t remember ever seeing one so big in California but George remained calm and swatted it away into the grass.  Some staff at the museum think we saw a Wolf Spider and I suppose it does bears a resemblance.  After that hiccup we put in ear plugs, George loaded the rifle with a bullet and black powder that he then tapped down and I stepped back as he shot. 

                We walked to the gel and looked at and were a bit surprised.  The bullet traveled the entire length of the gel and had exited (that wasn’t a surprise) but the dirt went almost the whole length as well.  We had not expected it to go so far.  It was a distinct trail of dirt so there was no mistaking it either.  In the trail we also saw black powder and bits of fabric.  The exit site also had fabric on it so it travelled quite a distance since our gel was the width of an average male chest cavity! It was an exciting result for both of us! George fired another shot into the next section of fabric and we made note of the results.  He then asked if I wanted to fire the gun and I said yes!

                So he loaded the gun, showed me how to correctly hold it and where to look.  I did not aim into the gel so I shot into the dirt barricade.  I was very surprised at how easy it was since the gun has some weight to it (11 pounds to be exact) and there was no recoil.  I fired twice so that we could take a picture and video of it and also because it was FUN! I, a historian and intern, got to fire a gun for my museum job! It was awesome to hold the gun and watch the smoke and smell the air.  It’s hard to describe the experience since I’m so novice at it but under proper supervision of someone with firearm experience I recommend it!

Ready...aim...
  

                                                                          FIRE!

So many people assume that history is a stagnant subject that does not change and that my work will be dull but there are new things being discovered all the time and I am having fun! The Hunley, a Confederate submarine that sunk in 1864 was discovered just outside of Charleston Harbor in 1995! Being able to travel to different areas such as Harpers Ferry, Antietam or even historic Europe and see beautiful scenery and buildings is amazing.  The architecture is different and it almost transports you to that time.   Talking to people about how an object was used or how life was and explaining how that connects to our modern lives is also fun because seeing their interest and understanding grow are great feelings.  I really enjoy this work and I hope I continue to have a lot of great experiences here though I’m sure I will.  (Besides, a few friends of mine think shooting a replica rifle was super cool to do and wish they were out here too!)

                Anyway…after I took my shots George resumed shooting at the different cloths and we found the same result each time.  Each bullet entered and exited the ballistic gel and each one dragged dirt and other particulate like black powder through it with most leaving fabric on the exit site.  It was a surprising result but a thrilling one to see.  To think that the soldiers had all of that in their bodies while bleeding and in pain was a striking thought to me as I imagined them in the chaos of battle already dirty and then a surgeon trying to work through all that mess and trying to help them quickly and get to the next patient.  After we had finished the test we packed up, thanked the police for allowing us to use their gun range and went back to the museum.  We showed some of the staff the gel and discussed how we could use it as a teaching tool.  I’ve seen some docents already include the information in their tours.    George plans to take it down to the conference later this week in Georgia also.

                Anyway, that was my awesome adventure for the day so I’ll end it there.  Later!

Harpers Ferry!

                Hello again everyone! Time for another thrilling installment about my time here as an intern as the National Museum of Civil War Medicine! It’s the end of my first week and now I am going to Harpers Ferry with Tom.  Yes, that Harpers Ferry.  The one John Brown led a raid on the arsenal in 1859, yep that one.  Tom offered to let me come along on this because he was going to be part of an educational immersive program that taught 5^th graders about the Battle of Harpers Ferry.  He was going to be teaching them about what battlefield medicine was like back then.  It was a great opportunity for me since I’m training to hopefully give tours on my own someday.

  John Brown as he would have appeared during the raid.

                We left the museum at 7am, Tom dressed as a Union surgeon and me in modern apparel.  I got a snazzy shirt with the museum logo on it though so who knows, maybe next time I’ll be in period wear.  When we left it was pretty overcast so as we drove the valleys and other areas I got to see the fog come sweeping in or hovering over fields.  It was beautiful and definitely picturesque as I imagined what had happened here in the past.  The homes and farms that dotted the route were also very nice.  What surprised me during the drive was that we passed through some parts of the state so quickly.  When we left Maryland we were only in Virginia for a minute before we were in West Virginia! I’m still getting used to the smaller states  sizes here since it would take me hours to leave California.  It might sound a little silly but I thought it was cool to be able to cut through states like that. 

                I was also really excited because Tom was pointing out landmarks to me such as the Potomac River.  I could see big rocks sticking out of the water but Tom told me that it was a little low at the moment but that the rains would make them invisible soon.  That river must be a sight to see when it is swollen with rain water.  It’s already so big and wide.  Soon after the Potomac we crossed the Shenandoah and then we arrived in Harpers Ferry.  Tom drove around, pointed out where Brown made his stand, where old buildings used to lie and other little facts about it.  I thought it might the smallest town I’ve seen.  With the fog, home built into the slope and nearby river it kind of reminded of the Russian River back home except those homes are wooden and there are Redwood trees.

Harpers Ferry.

                At the site we ran into a bunch of Tom’s old friends from National Park Services, helped set up some toy rifles and Tom’s medical knapsack with all of its blades and accoutrements.  The fog was pretty thick while we waited for the kids and the gnats were so thick I was CONSTANTLY batting and waving them away (bug spray didn’t seem to help abate them).  Tom said the motion was called the ‘Harpers Ferry wave.’ I’ve never seen so many gnats in my life and I spent most of the day trying to wave them off.  Soon enough the kids arrived and I watched them go through the different stations of learning commands, firing a rifle and even a cannon before reaching the surrender station.  Yeah, the Confederates had the Union surrounded here.  Right before they got to us though three of them were given cards with injuries.  They ranged from a flesh wound in the head to a shattered bone in the thigh.  It was supposed to be representative of some of the injuries a true Civil War soldier might have gotten and Tom was to explain and show how a surgeon back then would have treated them.  Those children would show Tom their “injuries” and he would “treat” them.

Yep, the Confederates had the Union surrounded.

                The kids would all crowd around our tent and watch what Tom was doing.  For the child with a flesh wound he explained, the surgeon would bandage him up and send him back out to battle because he was going to be okay.  Some kids really hammed it up and would jokingly scream about losing their beautiful faces.  It was pretty amusing to watch.  For the child who had the shattered thigh bone though, this was by far the more interesting procedure to learn about and watch the kids.  Tom would go “tsk tsk, I’m afraid that leg’ll have to go.” He would then loosely apply a tourniquet (it was never tightened so don’t worry) and then explain that there was anesthesia during the war.  Heck, it was discovered about thirty years before the war! In 98% of surgeries performed, either liquid Chloroform or powdered Ether was used so biting the bullet was a complete MYTH. Never happened.  A bullet in a patient’s mouth is either a choking hazard or they spit it out and scream.  Either way a bad idea and false.

WARNING: following paragraph may be disturbing to some readers!

                After anesthesia (usually Chloroform since Ether was potentially explosive in open flame) was used then the surgeon would use a knife to cut the skin and arteries away and pull them back with hooks.  My job was to hold up the Chloroform to show them the metal container it came in as well as the cone with a cloth that went over the patient’s face.  Tom often asked the kids what was the next step in amputation and without fail they would all shout out “Bone saw! Bone saw!” with anticipation. He would shake his head and say “No, before that?” and guide them to the right answer.  Then he would show them that the muscles and tendons are cut to reveal bone.  Tom then asked the kids what tool to use and they would scream “Bone saw! Bone saw!” Then he would take a giant saw off the table and they would gasp! He would pantomime cutting off the leg and filing down the bone smooth with an enormous file.  Then the arteries are pulled down and the skin sleeve he made in the beginning is pulled down over that before being sewn shut with silk or other thread with a needle to leave a stump behind.

A large bone saw in the top compartment with a tourniquet in the bottom left with knives.

Done with the graphic stuff! Onto the regularly scheduled blog…

Then Tom would explain that there was indeed medicine to help ease the pain and make the soldiers more comfortable.  Painkillers like Morphine did exist and soldiers did use it and other medicines for pain management.  The presentation ended there and then the kids would march off the next station about diseases soldiers encountered. 

                It was a lot of fun to see the kids learning about what kind of wounds soldiers could survive at the time and how they were treated.  They always got wide-eyed when they saw the big  wooden case full of knives, hooks and saws.  Most of them were very excited to see how they were used and were full of questions.  Even the chaperones had questions! The weather warmed up a lot in the afternoon so that I was able to see the Potomac from a distance as it wound around the area and even the gnats lessened.  It was a fantastic view with green mountains, trees, clear skies and the river flowing but I didn’t have my camera with me so no pictures I’m afraid.    

                The drive back the museum was nice because now I could see all the valleys and fields even better since the fog burned off.  It was mid-afternoon by then and I think it was equally nice both ways. With and without the fog both have a certain majesty.  I came back the museum very excited that I had been able to help Tom (even in a small way) with teaching medicine to the kids.  We had several people who were interested in coming and visiting the museum so that they could see even more which is great.  It was a fantastic way to spend a Friday.