African American exhibit

[LincolnToddFan]

I just got back from the LA Public Library exhibit on African-Americans in uniform during the Civil War. Let me say straight off that I was NOT prepared to be as overwhelmed as I was. There were beautiful, immaculately preserved blue wool Union coats and uniforms in glass cases, along with a decorative sword. There were actual artifacts from the battlefield at Shiloh...a corrugated eating utensil from a soldiers camp, a bottle from which someone drank makeshift beer, even a soldier's toothbrush(without the brush of course). The toothbrushes used in the 19th century look surprisingly like ours. There were haunting photos...a few of these "soldiers" were just little boys!

I was most affected by a bullet displayed in a glass case that bore very obvious tooth marks. In the absence of morphine or chloroform during battlefield surgeries, the soldiers' only recourse was to literally bite the bullet.

The exhibit itself was displayed in the Library's art deco Getty Gallery, with it's vaulted ceilings and beautiful murals. In the background soft music played...renditions of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, The Battle Cry of Freedom, We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder(Soldiers of the Cross) which I remember from Ken Burns' Civil War mini-series.

The whole experience was wonderful. I am so grateful that the Library of Congress allowed these priceless Civil War artifacts to travel here to El-Lay!