Blog Assignment Number Five

My overall impression of the exhibit was a bit intimidating. Being able to take a glimpse back in time made me view my own life as a tiny spec in the universe. A lot of the pieces portrayed the pain that came with the Civil War and others showed the patriotic side, which I enjoyed. The atmosphere of the exhibit was a bit serious. I felt like the emotions that were supposed to be portrayed were the feelings of the soldiers, some of the cool old school technology that was used, the families that were left behind feelings' and of course the feeling of being proud to fight for your country. This exhibit let the public in a little more personally into this time period in America. I felt like their purpose was to either educate us of the real and raw events through artifacts or if they simply wished to help us understand the impact that this specific war had on our country, something that many people might be dismissive about. In a lot of artifacts I saw many different photos of Abraham Lincoln. In a sense, he was the hero of the Civil War and this was proved by the many times he was portrayed around the exhibit.
         One particular artifact that caught my attention was the civil war portrait lockets from the 1860s. There were a whole bunch of brass and gold plated lockets filled with photos of loved ones that were in the war. Apparently these lockets were worn by family or wives in hope that their loved ones would return or were used for comfit that the solider would always be with them no matter what. Another artifact that I seen was a side drum made from wood calfskin rope from 1864. This drum had a stencil of an eagle and it belonged to the Union army. It was used for many things such as the call for battle, the call for wake up, for chores and even to let them know when to sleep. Musicians that were actually in the army were not used for battle and boys as young as then enlisted as musicians in the army. The last artifact that  I encountered was a portrait of Abraham Lincoln entitled Mourning Corsage with Portrait of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Vendors created mourning corsages with silk black ribbons that also feature small photos of the deceased president. This was another reason that assured me that Lincoln was loved for what he accomplished before and during the Civil War. He was seen as a hero in many American eyes.