North Carolina Civil War Photo Exhibit Visits Durham Public Library in May

RALEIGH, N.C. - April 24, 2013 - PRLog -- RALEIGH, N.C. – The Civil War savaged lives yet secured the future of generations in North Carolina and the nation, and altered the course of American history. The injustices faced by African Americans were some of the most significant factors leading to the American Civil War (1861-1865). The fight for liberation is just one of the aspects depicted in the “Freedom, Sacrifice, Memory: Civil War Sesquicentennial Photography Exhibit” (www.nccivilwar150.com) which will visit the Durham County Public Library on Roxboro Street from May 1-29.

“The Civil War occurred when photography was just becoming popular and became the first conflict to be widely recorded in this manner,” explains N.C. State Historic Sites Division Director Keith Hardison. “Battlefield images fascinated the public and acquainted them, in a dramatic way, with the horrors of war. The ‘Freedom, Sacrifice, Memory’ exhibit presents images that compare and contrast the conditions of war, then and now.”

The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources will display 24 images from the State Archives (www.archives.ncdcr.gov), the N.C. Museum of History (www.ncmuseumofhistory.org) and State Historic Sites (www.nchistoricsites.org). Between April 2011 and May 2013, 50 libraries and four museums will showcase “Freedom, Sacrifice, Memory” offering visuals that present gallant women, African American triumph and the perseverance of Confederate soldiers. A notebook will accompany the exhibit with further information and seeking viewer comments.

One of the images, “Mourning Ring,” shows a ring made from a kind of rubber easily carved by a captured Confederate soldier. This ring features mother-of-pearl and gold inlay, but the rings also were made of different materials. They were worn by fashionable Southern women in memory of loved ones who were away fighting or who had died in the war.

For information on the Durham exhibit call the library at (919) 560-0100.  For information on the statewide tour call Cultural Resources at (919) 807-7389.