“What is to Become of the People: The Civil War and Reconstruction in Tennessee” is an exhibition exploring Tennesseans’ experiences during the Civil War and Reconstruction now on view through June 7 at the Tennessee State Museum’s Changing Galleries.
Many rare artifacts are showcased in the exhibit, which tell the personal stories of individuals who lived during these times. Visitors will learn about the lives of civilians during military occupation, how women confronted challenges on the home front, and soldiers fighting in pivotal conflicts like the Battle of Nashville.
The exhibit also examines how many African Americans freed themselves during the war and how the state officially ended slavery. It also shows the ways in which Tennessee’s Reconstruction story was different from the rest of the South with former Confederates, African Americans, and Unionists struggling to create a new kind of state.
Some artifacts include A Bible owned by R.S. Matthews, 6th Tennessee Infantry, C.S.A. During the Battle of Chickamauga, a bullet struck the Bible in Matthews’ breast pocket, saving him from injury; a ledger containing entries related to the 2nd Regiment, West Tennessee Infantry of African Descent/61st United States Colored Troops, while stationed at LaGrange, Moscow, and Memphis, TN, July 8, 1863 to Nov. 28, 186; church pew from Wilson Creek Meeting House (Primitive Baptist), in Triune with carvings made by a soldier from Company A, 38th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, U.S.A. on the back; Mary Buntin Carter’s 1860s dressing gown; a rare photograph of notorious guerrilla Champ Ferguson, one of two former Confederates sentenced to death after the war, and the ball and chain he wore while imprisoned before his execution; Confederate Brigadier General Otho F. Strahl’s uniform coat, 1861 to 1864; and William G. Brownlow’s coat and vest, worn at his gubernatorial inauguration in 1865.
For more information, visit www.tnmuseum.org.
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