The exhibit will be on view in the Washington Gallery at the Historical Association’s Museum and Library building, 70 Court Street, Freehold, New Jersey. Funding for the exhibition has been provided by the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.
Since this year marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, it is timely to explore how this conflict impacted the brave Monmouth County men who volunteered to join the Union Army. The exhibition will include a full selection of letters, photographs, diaries, uniforms, flags, personal items and military weaponry to evoke the experiences of these men who left home for up to four years. Their lives prior to the War, their wartime experiences and their struggles as they returned home will be the focus, providing a very personal viewpoint of the Civil War era.
The photographs, documents and artifacts in the exhibition have all been donated over the years to the Monmouth County Historical Association, many from direct descendants of Monmouth County’s Civil War veterans. With the rich histories of their ownership, they represent a link to the past and an opportunity to explore the lives of their original owners.
