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Historical Park Highlights African American Collection in New Exhibit Many Thousands Go Exhibit Includes Original Copy of Thirteenth Amendment FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 7, 2006 Petersburg, VA – Pamplin Historical Park & The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier opens a new exhibition, Many Thousands Go: African Americans and the Civil War, to the public on June 24, 2006. This 1,500 square-foot interactive exhibit features over 100 artifacts and highlights the military and civilian experiences of African Americans during the Civil War. “Many Thousands Go will raise awareness of the role that African Americans played in the Civil War and the invaluable contributions of black soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict,” says Andrew Talkov, Director of Education and Interpretation at Pamplin Historical Park. “This exhibit is particularly significant in this area because fifteen of the twenty-five African Americans who earned the Medal of Honor during the War did so in the Richmond and Petersburg campaigns.” The title of the exhibition, Many Thousands Go, is taken from a spiritual that slaves in Coastal South Carolina sang as they went to build Confederate fortifications to protect Charleston from Union invasion. In this exhibit, the lyrics “many thousands go” refer to African Americans who left their homes as soldiers, fugitive slaves, or in the service of the Confederacy. Many Thousands Go includes an original copy of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States. The document is one of only three known “Senate” copies signed by Abraham Lincoln and all of the Senators present at the passage of the resolution. On loan from the Gilder Lehrman Collection at the New-York Historical Society, the Thirteenth Amendment will be on display at Pamplin Historical Park through September 2006. In 2005, the Park purchased over 1,200 African American related items from William A. Gladstone, an experienced collector. The compilation includes documents and artifacts dating from the 1700s through the 1870s, including the Civil War. The Park is making a portion of this unique collection available to the public by featuring the Gladstone artifacts in the new exhibit. Items on display from the Gladstone collection include a gold ring, excavated from South Carolina’s Fort Wagner, that belonged to an African American soldier from the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the unit celebrated in the film Glory. There is also the surgical case and Army regulation book that belonged to Major Alexander T. Augusta, a surgeon with the Seventh Regiment United States Colored Troops, who became the highest ranking African American officer of the Civil War. In addition to the Park’s collection, the display includes historically significant items on loan from the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka, Kan.; The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Va.; Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in Harpers Ferry, W.Va.; the Hampton History Museum in Hampton, Va.; and Petersburg National Battlefield in Petersburg, Va. One such item is a pike purchased by abolitionist John Brown for use during his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, on loan from The Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Va. Funding for the exhibit came from the Pamplin Foundation, the primary financial contributor to the Park, as well as an $8,500 grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation. “Park visitors who come to this exhibit are going to be surprised by the extent that African Americans participated in shaping the history of the Civil War,” Talkov says. “Their influence touched everything that happened during this period.” A number of programs focusing on themes covered in Many Thousands Go will be offered at the Park during the year-long run of the exhibit. Many Thousands Go: African Americans and the Civil War will be open to the public daily at Pamplin Historical Park starting Saturday, June 24, 2006 at 9:00 a.m., the first day of the Park’s 10th annual Civil War Weekend. The exhibit runs through May 2007. Admission to the Park, including Many Thousands Go, is $13.50 for adults, $12.00 for seniors over 62 years old, and $7.50 for children ages 6-11. For more information about the Many Thousands Go exhibition or Pamplin Historical Park & The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier, please visit www.pamplinpark.org or call 1-877-PAMPLIN. |
Broadside
used to recruit black soldiers into the Union Army.
Quarter
plate tintype of a pair of
Abraham
Lincoln, sixteenth
The
ring of 54th
Photograph
of Company E,
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