Civil War: The Marblehead Experience

Historians put the death toll for Union and Confederate soldiers at 750,000 making the Civil War the bloodiest conflict in our history.

It's a history that is part of our present as we wrestle with the war's roots, meaning and influences.

The Marblehead Museum will continue that grappling and understanding with its upcoming exhibit Marblehead and the Civil War, which opens Thursday evening, March 7 from 6-8 pm.

Here is some information on this exhibit from the Marblehead Museum:

 The exhibit's main themes will be aspects of the American Civil War, including Abolitionism, Marblehead 's response to the start of the Civil War, the effects of the War on the battlefront and at home, the end of the war and the establishment of the Grand Army of the Republic for Civil War veterans.

Marblehead was active in the Abolitionist movement from its beginning, and was an important location on the Underground railroad. Through the course of the Civil War Marblehead sent 1048 men to fight. 112 men made the ultimate sacrifice, and scores of men and boys were wounded. The story of Marblehead ’s part in the Civil War is similar to that of men all over the United States. Some lived, some died and many were wounded. All were subjected to the horrors of war, as were their wives and families. When the war was over, the town of Marblehead voted to give support to veterans, and the Grand Army of the Republic, a Civil War veterans organization, continued that support.

The exhibit displays include documents, photographs, names and places of those who contributed to the war effort, either at home or at war.  The Marblehead Museum is pleased to exhibit some of its extensive textile collection with fashions from the Civil War era.

      The exhibit will open on March 7 and run through early September, 2013.

      Lectures and programs related to the exhibit include:

      First in '61- the Rest of the Story by Don Doliber on March 14

      The Bloodiest War: Understanding the Civil War by Standley Goodwin on March 28

      Lincoln 's Assassination by Christopher Daley

      at the Marblehead Museum Annual Meeting at Abbot Hall on April 16

      Massachusetts Women in the Civil War on May 9

      For more information and reservations call 781-631-1768.