Personal artifacts recovered from submarine H.L. Hunley will remind The Charleston Museum visitors that crew members were regular people with 'hopes and fears'

Crew member's shoe before and after conservation (Friends of the Hunley)

Clothing and items belonging to the doomed crew of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley will go on display for the first time in an exhibit at The Charleston Museum that will feature mannequins and items related to each man.

“This exhibit, ‘Textiles from the Deep: Findings from the H.L. Hunley Submarine,’ offers fresh perspectives because it is the first time these newly conserved textile fragments will be on view for the public,” Virginia Theerman, curator of historic textiles at the museum, told the Picket in an email.

“Each crew member will have a slant board display with their archeological materials from inside the Hunley. There will also be a mannequin representing one interpretation of how that man might have been dressed, using garments primarily pulled from The Charleston Museum's collection," said Theerman. (Below, conservation of clothing, Friends of the Hunley)

The exhibit, which opens Oct. 3 and runs through April 4, features a silk bandana, shoe, buttons, brass oil can (still holding oil) and a thimble, among other artifacts. It is being sponsored by Friends of the Hunley and the South Carolina Hunley Commission.

On Feb. 17, 1864, Hunley made history by becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy warship. The 40-foot iron vessel -- bullets pinging off its iron exterior -- planted a torpedo in the hull of the Union ship USS Housatonic, setting off a charge that sent the Federal vessel and five crew members to the sandy bottom within minutes.

The Hunley and its eight-man crew disappeared beneath the waves and entered the realm of legend. To this day, historians, scientists and others debate what caused it to end up on the ocean floor. 

Since recovery from the Charleston Harbor in 2000, the submarine and the crew’s belongings have been undergoing extensive conservation at Clemon University's Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston. Some of the textile items were freeze-dried during conservation.

Kellen Butler, executive director of the friends group, told the South Carolina Daily Gazette the Lasch Center has been unable to display the textiles because of the lack of humidity controls.

The Picket has written previous posts on the conservation of clothing, which were made of cotton, wool or cashmere.

The knotted bandana (above, Friends of the Hunley) was worn around the neck of crew member James A. Wicks.

Wicks -- a Southerner by birth -- was in the U.S. Navy at the outbreak of the Civil War. When the USS Congress was crippled by the Confederate warship CSS Virginia at the Battle of Hampton Roads in March 1862, he switched sides, according to the Friends of the Hunley. 

He was about 45 years old when he joined the Hunley mission.

“Given his personal history, it is not surprising Wicks is the only crew member known to be wearing a bandana around his neck, a common practice for enlisted Union sailors during that time,” surmised a 2007 article in the Friends' newsletter, "The Blue Light."

Wicks served on the CSS Indian Chief before Hunley skipper Lt. George Dixon chose him to be part of the eight-member crew.

The Friends says the father of four girls (left) stood nearly 5 feet 10 inches tall and was a heavy tobacco user. He had blue eyes and brown hair, according to records. His family was living in Florida when war broke out.

Wicks had the Hunley’s sixth crank position and in an emergency, his job was to release the aft keel block, should weight needed to be jettisoned so that the submarine could rise from the ocean floor.

His remains were found associated with seven US Navy buttons, which is consistent with his military service, according to the Friends of the Hunley. 

Theerman said The Charleston Museum has had two prior exhibitions on the Hunley, both more than 25 years ago.

“I hope visitors will take away a human feeling of recognition from long ago history -- the idea that each one of the crew was an everyday person with their own hopes and fears,” she said. “I also hope they will learn more about textile conservation, and the science of preserving such delicate materials.”

Refurbished oil can, naval buttons and thimble; click to enlarge (Friends of the Hunley)