Name: U.S.

Civil War Colored Troops Medal

Date/Provenance: circa 1864, designed by Anthony C. Paquet and made by Tiffany & Co.
Object number: 1985.0612
Brief Description/ Historical significance: Circular metal made of silver, one side inscribed with
“FERRO IIS LIBERTAS PERVENIET” (in banner), “US Colored Troops,” and a picture(?) of
two soldiers with rifles/bayonets moving/running toward a fortress with a cannon.
Other side: inscribed “DISTINGUISHED FOR SERVICE” a laurel wreat around the next
inscription, “CAMPAIGN BEFORE RICHMOND 1864” and two small stars beneath laurel
wreath
There is also a neck ribbon which is wide and colored in stripes of blue, white, and red.
Gen. Benjamin F. Butler so appreciated the heroic actions of African American soldiers under
his command at the 1864 battles of Fort Harrison and Fort Gilmer that he commissioned a
special medal for them which was then made by Tiffany & Co. The medal had no official
military status and after General Butler was relieved of his command in 1865 the 300 soldiers
who received the medals were forbidden from wearing them on their uniforms. This shows the
continued discrimination that African Americans continued to face, even when they succeeded
above their white counterparts.
Credit line: James Parton
Material: silver and cotton textile
Dimensions: overall: 53 cm x 3.8 cm; 20 7/8 in x 1 1/2 in; id number: 1985.0612.01; catalog
number: 1985.0612.01
Display conditions: as silver tarnishes in the air, the medal will need its own case with a micro
climate tailored to it.
Location: Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Picture

Name: Fort Sumter (picture)

Date/Provenance: 1865, Mathew B. Brady photographer
Object number: VIS 170.3642.001
Brief Description/ Historical significance: Photograph shows the interior of Fort Sumter, in 1865,
now abandoned and in disrepair.
As Fort Sumter was the start of the war, I think it is a good way to show the passage of time, and
how even monumental places can become ordinary again, or even abandoned, when our attention
shifts. This was the place that started the deadliest war for the United States and from this image
you would never know it.
Material: originally stereocard, now JPEG raster image
Dimensions: not provided
Display conditions: if used as the original, will need to be kept in low light level in its own
microclimate, if using the scanned imagine (recommended) no display restrictions
Location: Atlanta History Center
Picture

Name: Southern women feeling the effects of the rebellion, and creating bread riots; Political
Cartoon
Date/Provenance: May 23, 1863, appeared in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, pg 141
Object number: Library of Congress control number 2007683044
Brief Description/ Historical significance: This drawing shows a horde of women attacking a
bakery. The glass windows of the bakery have been smashed in and one woman appears to be
holding a club aloft. In the foreground two women are facing the viewer of the image, one holds
a smoking gun, the other is crouching collecting bread from the ground, while looking directly at
the viewer. The women are all draw with grotesque features, their faces look almost goblin like,
one holds a baby that is also vaguely grotesque. In the front corner a young African American
boy is running away from the scene holding a loaf of bread. It is noted this is the sequel to a
previous cartoon entitled: “Southern Women Hounding their men to rebellion”
There is so much significance to this. First just the way they are drawn shows how women were
regarded at the time – the moment they are anything other than agreeable and compliant they are
shown as monsters. Two it also shows the relative indifference the north had to the southern
citizens at the time, not only does the choice of depiction make the scene a joke, but the title
“feel the effects of rebellion” and the fact that it followed a cartoon depicting women
encouraging their husbands to rebel makes it very clear that the readers are supposed to see these
riots as the women’s own fault, and that this is what happened when you step out of place. Also
it is interesting that it even happened at all. The popular depiction of southern women is as
complaint, stern with their children yes but not active and certainly not violent. This goes against
the idea that southern women needed their men to win the war and protect them, they were
clearly capable of taking matters into their own hands and protecting themselves. Also it shows
class differences, it’s a little hard to tell in the center of the drawing where the mob is but it
doesn’t look like any of these women are of the upper class. Are they missing because they
couldn’t bear to degrade themselves with such action or because they are not yet hungry enough
to go that far? Is it an omission based on the bias of the drawer or fact?
Material: print/wood engraving, will be used as scanned raster image
Dimensions: JPEG 103.4 KB
Display conditions: as a scanned item will be safe to display anywhere. Might be interesting in
design to create a kind of newspaper format for it to be displayed with.
Location: Library of Congress
Picture

Name: Union Six Mule Army Wagon

Date/Provenance: 1861, built by H. Simons of Pennsylvania
Object number:ML.1989.1.M1
Brief Description/ Historical Significance: The wagon weighs 1850 pounds (according to a
marker on its side) and is mostly intact except it is missing the canvas cover. The bottom of the
wagon is wood, supported by metal and sitting on large metal wheels. Curved steel rails form the
structure for the missing canvas top. The sides of the wagon are painted with a record of its
journey:
Right side “Wagon was built by H. Simons of Philadelphia at a cost of $150,000 Repairs $7,000
in 1861, was used in the Army of the Potomac until 1863, When it was sent to Nashville, Tenn,
from there to Chattanooga, Atlanta, Milledgeville, Millen, Gross Weight 18520 lbs.”
Left side “Savannah, Columbia, Cheraw, Goldsboro, Raleigh, Danville, Burkeville, Richmond &
Washington City having gone a distance of 4160 miles through all the campaigns & Marches of
Gen’ Shermans army, Having been in services 4 Y’s and 9 Mo’s”
Both sides “No. 1 2nd DIV. 20th CORPS (Maker’s Mark) Henry Simons U.S. National Wagon
Works 523 New Market Street Philadelphia”
This wagon supplied the union army through Sherman’s campaigns, from Tennessee to D.C. and
is therefore an object that can represent the experiences of those who supplied armies (women
and African Americans), African Americans who followed wagons like these as Sherman moved
through the South, and people who migrated west in wagons like these and eventually clashed
with Indigenous tribes.

Material: wood and metal, some paint on wood

Dimensions: wight: 1850 pounds,

Display conditions: object appears in good condition and does not require any special
requirements for display

Location: Turning Point in AHC

Picture

Name: Picture of the 1st U.S. Colored Infantry

Date/Provenance: circa 1861-1865, taken by Mathew B. Brady
Object number: Library of Congress control number 2004673345
Brief Description/ Historical significance: the photograph is of the 1st US colored infantry in
formation during troop review. In the foreground is a white solider, perhaps an officer
The photograph shows that while many African American men turned out to fight for their
country, segregation took from them the ability to lead themselves, and placed them again under
white authority. Nevertheless, the regiment is clearly just as ordered as any other.
Material: photographic print, albumen, will be using scanned raster image
Dimensions: JPEG 185.9 KB
Display conditions: as a scanned image it is safe to be displayed anywhere, and I think it would
work well as a large wall image
Location: Library of Congress
Picture
Name: British Pattern 1853 rifle-musket, .577 caliber
Date/Provenance: 1861, Manchester, United Kingdom (imported through blockade)
Object number: 2005.200.M135
Brief Description/ Historical significance: Introduced in mid-1854 at the height of the Crimean
War, the Pattern 1853 rifle-musket was designed as the standard-issue arm for all line infantry
regiments in the British army. Over 400,000 were imported through the Union blockade to the
South during the U.S. Civil War. The pattern 1853 was the most widely used confederate
longarm. It was reliable and accurate, but the imported guns were not made with interchangeable
parts and were therefore harder to maintain.
This was the most common rifle for the Confederate Armies, so it gives a view of what most
soldiers, the ‘everyman’ would have used in war. It’s also very interesting, given that the gun
was so common, that it was difficult to maintain. This was just more example of how poorly
equipped the Confederacy was compared to the union. While this can be used to interpret the
everyday experience of the soldiers during the war, it also points to the futility of the
Confederacy.
Material: wood, metal
Dimensions: all that’s in Martha is that it is 59.50 inches long
Display conditions: Will need to be in its own microclimate to prevent damage to the metal
elements, in good condition
Location: AHC, Turning Point
Picture (The top one)

Name: Chicago Daily Tribune, July 16, 1863

Date/Provenance: July 16, 1863, Chicago, IL
Object number: Library of Congress number sn84031490
Brief Description/ Historical significance: Newspaper column describing the 1863 New York
Draft Riots. Includes the first four paragraphs because people will not read all of it and that has
the pertinent information (could probably be lessened even more).
This is an extremely significant event that seems to be lost to history. I didn’t know that there
were riots against the Union Army draft until my first time in Turning Point, so I wanted to be
sure we kept that in and discussed its implications. In the popular framing of the war, people see
the north as these honorable saviors completely willing to go into battle and give up their lives,
when in reality these were men who had suffered two years of war at that point, watched friends
go and die, watched the economy suffer, and a week, week and a half before, the horror of
Gettysburg had happened, which by now they all would have heard about. It shows the
disillusionment people had with the war and points out that for many people it stopped being a
great struggle for the nations soul when it lasted longer than six months.
Material: originally newsprint, now an image either PDF or JPEG
Dimensions: PDF converted to JPEG 132 KB
Display conditions: We could try and get the original paper in which case it would need to be in
low light, but I think it would be better to use the JPEG image because then we could blow that
up larger and either screen it to the wall or have it on a panel and maybe do a design where there
are phrases or sentences of it pulled out and highlighted near the picture.
Location: Library of Congress
Picture
Name: Regimental Flag 127th United States Colored Troops
Date/Provenance: 1864, Philadelphia, David Busthill Bowser (artist)
Object number:
Brief Description/ Historical significance: The flag is of navy silk with a large center painting of
an African American man in a union uniform and holding a rifle waving goodbye, to Columbia,
a white woman who represents the Union. She holds an American Flag. The pair is surrounded
by golden laurel leaves, with the motto “We will prove ourselves men” in a red banner
(yellow/gold edging, the words are the same yellow color) above the pair, and “127th Regt. U.S.
Colored Troops” in a banner (same description as above) beneath the pair. On the reverse side is
a bald eagle, with the country’s shield as its torso, holding olive branches in one foot and arrows
in the other. Its beak clutches a red banner with the words E Plurbis Unium in gold (the banner is
thinner than those on the first side and without the gold/yellow border). There are about thirty-
five gold stars above the eagle, which is also surrounded by gold laurel leaves.
This is the only extant painted flag from Bowser (he did 11 USCT banners). Bowser was an
African American painter and abolitionist advocate and represents the work, careers, and lives of
freed African Americans before and during the war. This flag was also flying at Lee’s surrender
at Appotomax Courthouse. The flag, and its motto, shows how much was at stake for African
American soldiers. If they were captured by confederate soldiers and survived, they would be
sold back into slavery. They were entering a war where their own army would segregate them,
where its most celebrate general, Sherman, would refuse them arms. They were fighting to keep
their freedom and their humanity, and to prove not only that they inherently had humanity, but
that they deserved it.
Material: painted silk
Dimensions: 72” x 55”
Display conditions: Because it is silk, it is very fragile. It is in a case right now in it’s own
microclimate and should stay there, but a contraption could be built for the case that would allow
it to be out of the light until visitors choose to view it.
Location: AHC
Picture