Richmond’s American Civil War Museum vows to expand the conflict’s story.
Photo by Penelope M. Carrington / courtesy of the American Civil War Museum
The new American Civil War Museum, slated to open in Richmond in May, will offer visitors the opportunity to enhance their knowledge about the deadliest conflict on American soil—beyond the Union and the Confederacy. “We’re really showing how relevant and important this period of history is,” says CEO Christy Coleman, who oversaw the merging of the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar Iron Works and the Museum of the Confederacy in 2013. “[The new museum] defines the challenges that brought us to a better place as a nation.”
The 28,000-square-foot building now rises at Tredegar, formerly the Confederate Army munitions headquarters. Coleman and her team will move into the new building from their present location on Clay Street in January in preparation for the late-spring opening.
The facility boasts a state-of-the-art experience theater and expanded galleries, including the Core Gallery, which visitors will encounter upon arrival. The Core Gallery makes real the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major conflict of the Civil War. In a floor display encased in glass, “There are actual items that were found on the Manassas battlefield,” says Coleman, including weapons, personal effects, and objects once possessed or used by nearly 5,000 Union and Confederate Army soldiers who became casualties of the bloody battle. The display allows visitors to figuratively step onto the battlefield, says Coleman.
The museum will also expand the narrative of many lesser-considered players in the Civil War, exploring how—and why—they contributed to the conflict. It will examine the role of women and Native American tribes like the Cherokee, who aligned with the Confederacy because they were involved in the African slave trade. More inclusive narratives, including how African-Americans shaped the Civil War, are also part of the new museum’s offerings.
Ask any number of Americans about the lasting legacy of the Civil War and interpretations of the historic conflict will vary wildly. But what the new American Civil War Museum will show unequivocally, says Coleman, is an unvarnished view of the nation-splitting war and the people who powered it. ACWM.org
This article originally appeared in our February 2019 issue.
