Adding New Perspective to an Old War: Tredegar’s In the Cause of Liberty Exhibit

The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar is located on eight acres near the historic James River in downtown Richmond. A National Historic Landmark, the Tredegar site contains five surviving buildings illustrating the Iron Works era. The center’s main exhibit, In the Cause of Liberty, is located in the restored 1861 Gun Foundry. According to their website, the mission of the museum is to “tell the whole story of the conflict that still shapes our nation”- the Civil War.

Upon entering the In the Cause of Liberty exhibit, I immediately understood that the museum’s main intent was to shower me with perspective through various forms of media: banners, maps, videos, timelines, and artifacts. In particular, the three main perspectives that were consistently focused on throughout the entire museum were those of the Unionists, Confederates, and African Americans. This critique will first describe the In the Cause of Liberty exhibit and from there will explain its effectiveness, strengths, and weaknesses.

Although the museum at first seemed like it was going to cover an enormous time span (1776 to the present), in reality the exhibit dedicated most of its space and media to a narrow gap of time: 1860-1867. The majority of the lower level focused on the years 1860 to 1863. Most of the space of the upper level was dedicated to displaying 1864 and 1865, glossing over the periods like the Reconstruction (1866-1877) in order to connect the war to the present by the end of the exhibit. Each one of these years had its own section in the museum that includes most, if not all of the following: maps to demonstrate the locations major events; banners to reveal the variety of personal feelings of affected individuals; timelines to highlight the very specific events and intricate details of the war; and featurettes to display the artifacts of specific commanders and citizens. Debates/ questions that guided and shaped the museum’s content were ones regarding the civil war’s causes, positive and negative effects, and current world legacies. The exhibit was constructed so that visitor is first educated via video on the multiple causes of war, which appear chronologically interwoven as he/she walks from the lower to upper floor of the exhibit. At the end of the journey, the visitor is reunited with the same three speakers from the first video and is shown how present America is a legacy of the civil war.

One of the strongest features of the In the Cause of Liberty exhibit was its consistency. Each display in every major section of the museum addressed the Unionist, Confederate and African American perspective. In addition, the museum did a great job of integrating each of the causes that led to the civil war within the museum. For example, one display contrasted the different economies and inventions between the north and south, one discussed the Louisiana Purchase, one explained treaty disagreements, and one addressed slavery.

The majority of the interactive displays that the exhibit offered were clever and well-planned. My favorite one was the video room I encountered during the beginning of the exhibit. This exhibit prompted viewers to sit and push a button to vote on what they felt was the true cause of the Civil War. After visitors casted their vote, they were then shown how their results compared to prior museum visitors. Then, the video began and three speakers discussed how each of these factors played a large part in causing the war. I enjoyed this opening display because it was interesting to see how other people’s answers differed from mine and learn through multiple perspectives about the civil war. Another fun interactive display was a telegraph that allowed visitors to spell out their name using a More Code alphabet list. I was excited to get the opportunity to not only see, but also use such an old communication device. Lastly, I loved the post-it board at the end of the exhibit that allowed visitors to reflect, view, and post responses to prompts such as, “What legacies of the civil war impacted your life?” and “Is your first loyalty to your state or your country?” This was a great display to culminate my museum experience and was successful in persuading me how relevant the Civil War is to our present world.

Despite the museum’s overall success in holding my interest, there were a couple of weaknesses. Firstly, the exhibit was too overwhelming! Without a tour guide and with so many different forms of media to see I was confused about what I supposed to focus on. I recall the irony of passing by a display labeled “enthused chaos” because it perfectly summarized my whole exhibit experience. Another disappointment was the complete lack of Tredegar’s presence. In the entire museum only one tiny display discussed Tredegar’s role as the Confederacy’s leading canon manufacturer. Thirdly, I found the interactive displays near each of the map sections to be weak and problematic to my learning experience. These sword-like mechanisms were used to reveal quantitative content (numbers of soldiers lost, items stolen, etc.) once a visitor pulled the metal from its “sheath.” Although they appeared to a smart concept due to their connection to civil war weaponry, because of the loud noises they made and physical workout I received from removing these “informational swords”, I soon lost motivation to discover new civil war facts.

In closing, the American Civil War Museum at Historic Tredegar provides visitors with new insight about the Civil War. Through the museum’s interplay of three war perspectives, visitors learn the different motivations for fighting the war as well as its various effects. More importantly, the exhibit shows the remnants of the Civil War within our own lives (current equality struggles, ancestors, etc.) and emphasizes how the Civil War transformed the U.S. into the strong international force that it is today.

Museum: “In the Cause of Liberty”. The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar. 500 Tredegar Street, Richmond, VA 23219. February 2, 2012.