Service & Sacrifice: Powerful exhibit opens on Veterans’ Day
Dateline: October 25, 2012
Barre, Vt. ― The Vermont Historical Society announces the opening of the third exhibit at the Vermont Heritage Galleries: Service & Sacrifice: Vermont’s Civil War Generation. The opening will take place on Sunday, November 11, 2012 at 60 Washington Street in Barre from 2:00 to 4:00 pm.
A Vermont Humanities Council program hosted by the Vermont Historical Society will feature Our Faded and Torn Banners by historian and author Donald H. Wickman along with traditional music by Pete Sutherland and a special color guard presentation by living historians The Vermont Civil War Hemlocks.
“It is fitting to open this exhibit on Veterans’ Day to honor our fellow Vermonters,” said Mark Hudson. “This war dramatically changed the course of life in many villages throughout Vermont in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.”
Artifacts, documents and photographs throughout the exhibit tell the story of individual Vermonters during and after the war. On display for the first time since its acquisition, will be a scene from the Grand Panorama of the late War, a 6-foot by 150-foot long painting by Charles Andrus in the 1890s depicting ten scenes from the Civil War.
Also featured will be a selection of Civil War flags from the State of Vermont’s collection. These iconic, strong symbols for the soldiers will be rotated onto display throughout the course of the exhibit. One of the most notorious stories documented in the exhibit are the exploits of carpetbagger Marshal Harvey Twitchell, a daring Union soldier who served in the Vermont Brigade.
Photography, a relatively new technology in 1861, realistically showed for the first time the drudgery and horrors of war to the people at home. George Houghton traveled from Brattleboro to photograph the Vermont troops in Virginia. A selection of Houghton’s photographs on exhibit will include panoramic images of the military encampment as well as close-up shots of individuals around the camp.
Visitors to the Vermont History Center can learn firsthand about the service and sacrifice of Vermont citizens from this new exhibit. Admission for all three Vermont Heritage Galleries is free until December 31, 2012. Call (802) 479-8500 or go online: www.vermonthistory.org.
