Gettysburg park gets 3,000 artifacts from Civil War museum

[RJNorton]

Thank you to Kathy Canavan for sending this link:

http://www.stripes.com/news/us/gettysbur...m-1.407886

[L Verge]

Members of the Surratt Society visited this wonderful collection decades ago when it was housed in a charming old townhouse in Philadelphia. At that time, a Surratt member, Steve Wright, was a curator there and gave us a night tour when the rest of the world went home. I hope that Gettysburg cares lovingly for the remarkable items.

[Anita]

Thanks for posting Kathy. It's good to know that this wonderful collection is going to Gettysburg Park museum instead of being auctioned off to private collectors. I would love to visit Gettysburg one day.

[LincolnMan]

Just reading in the article what some of the items are in the inventory- I'm blown away!

[Jim Garrett]

The Philadelphia Civil War got caught in the middle of just about the worst possible Catch 22 if I remember it correctly. If someone remembers this differently, please correct me.

The Philadelphia Civil War Museum was indeed the MOLLUS collection. Military Order Loyal Legion Union Service. The Pine Street property was their home for over 100 years, nice old townhome (huge) but completely unsuitable to house an important collection. It was located around the corner from Gen. Meade's home.

Under an agreement with the NPS, they would be given a sweet heart deal on the use of the 2nd Bank of the United States building on Chestnut Street. This was a great improvement because of the history, size and location of the building. It was all contingent on grants from Pennsylvania and Philadelphia and the grants were dependent on each other. Without one grant, the other was withdrawn.

The Philadelphia Civil War Museum sold their Pine Street property and put their collection in storage. Then, the economy took a big downturn. Either Philadelphia pulled the funding on the grant or Pennsylvania did, causing the other grant to be withdrawn and the NPS pulled the 2nd Bank building because the Philadelphia Civil War Museum was unable to pay for the renovations without the grants.

They loaned out artifacts to the NPS museum at Gettysburg and the GAR Museum in Philadelphia while everything sat in limbo. While Gettysburg is a good destination, it also means that in all likelihood, just a small fraction of the collection will go on display. They not only have Meade's slouch hat, they also loaned Meade's Kepi which has been on display at Gettysburg. They also have Meade's entire uniform worn at Gettysburg and the head of "Old Baldy" (Meade's horse), which I believe went to the GAR Museum to settle a dispute. They also have two of Gen. U.S. Grant's post war uniforms made by Wannamakers. A personal favorite which I doubt will be displayed....they have the handcuffs recovered from J.W.B.'s room at the National Hotel.

[L Verge]

If I remember correctly, Old Baldy's head was sitting on top of another six-foot high showcase with no protection from dirt when we were there. It was kind of a Godfather shock to round a corner and look up...

Like so many other items that the NPS owns, many of these will likely go into storage in one of their regional facilities (hopefully the one in Maryland?) never to be seen by the public again - but at least protected and not divided up among collectors (who seldom let the public see their treasures).

[Jim Garrett]

The Gettysburg National Military Parks facility is huge and has a full basement underneath. I believe their collection stays at Gettysburg. The storage facilty there is state of the art and there is no shortage of space. They also have space for special exhibits and they will rotate many items through their exhibit areas.

[L Verge]

(05-09-2016 06:14 AM)Jim Garrett Wrote:  The Gettysburg National Military Parks facility is huge and has a full basement underneath. I believe their collection stays at Gettysburg. The storage facilty there is state of the art and there is no shortage of space. They also have space for special exhibits and they will rotate many items through their exhibit areas.

That's great to know, Jim. I remember wandering through the dark enclosures of an NPS facility in Harpers Ferry back in the late-1970s to find Mary Surratt's desk that was in storage (and poor condition) there. A beneficial swap brought it to us and a wonderful restorer, and it has been in Mrs. Surratt's parlor ever since.

I also remember the storage of many of Oldroyd's collection in the attic of Union Station, where the roof leaked. Then, a new facility in Greenbelt, Maryland, was built and then a current one in Landover, Maryland. I sometimes felt like things were saved in the knick of time.

About 25 years ago, several of our park historians and I had the chance to tour the Smithsonian's storage facility in Suitland. What a state of the art, huge, building. Next door to it was the Garber Facility, where historic airplanes were stored and worked on. We actually got nose-to-nose with the Enola Gay -- which now resides in a modern facility near Dulles Airport in Virginia.