10-MUST SEES: Atlanta History Center senior military historian and curator Gordon Jones says these artifacts in new 'More Perfect Union' exhibit will speak to you

John Brown pike and captured rifle, Frederick Douglass and AHC brochure (Civil War Picket)

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when experiencing “More Perfect Union” -- the Atlanta History Center’s new Civil War exhibit -- for the first time. And I do mean experience: Video panels, sound effects, a massive film, recorded voices and, of course, hundreds and hundreds of artifacts.

I might recommend a repeat visit, as I did this week just ahead of Friday’s formal opening.

If you are pressed for time, or want to get the AHC’s take on stars of the show, I suggest seeing the following "Top 10." Five of these are mentioned in a printed brochure, “Curator Highlights,” while the other five artifacts were gleaned from an interview with Gordon Jones, senior military historian and curator, and a tour he gave to the media on Wednesday

It is remarkable Jones, now in his mid-60s, was leading the effort at the AHC when it opened its signature Civil War exhibit, “Turning Point,” in 1996. Over the past couple years, Jones has shepherded a new exhibition for the DuBose Gallery space. It is much larger in the topics it tackles.

“The new exhibition moves beyond traditional military history to explore the full scope of the era. It challenges us to ask,” the AHC says. “Who was included in the promise of American democracy? Who was excluded? And what does the legacy of that struggle mean today?”

Curator Gordon Jones during a media preview of the exhibit on July 8 (Civil War Picket)

Of course, the fulcrum of this is slavery and what it meant then and its legacy today. Many of the items in this Top 10 are related to that topic. All the items were procured since “Turning Point” opened and they largely show an evolution in interpretation of the Civil War.

While "More Perfection Union" is primarily focused on context about the war, the AHC in about six months will open a companion gallery, "The Hard Hand of War," focused primarily on weapons, gear and uniforms.

Without further ado, 10 must-sees at “More Perfect Union: The American Civil War Era.” These are in sequence as you walk through the space. (All photos by the Civil War Picket except as noted)

Dutch map of African coast, navigational chart for the Transatlantic slave trade, circa 1680

(Courtesy Atlanta History Center)

Frederik de Wit’s map/chart was a vital tool for European merchants in the slave trade, according to the AHC. The map identifies coastal landmarks, rivers, settlements and more.

Millions of enslaved people were transported from the Western and Central African coasts to the Western Hemisphere; many died during the horrific journeys.

“This is one of several items in the exhibition that demonstrates the deep roots of chattel slavery in the New World, and how the long tail of slavery led directly to the American Civil War,” the AHC brochure says.

British blunderbuss musket often used in slave trade

This circa 1750s short-barreled firearm, or blunderbuss, was made by the John Whately family in England. The European slave cartel traded guns for enslaved persons along the West African coast. It was typical for the buyers to supply weapons, iron bars, printed cloth and other metals as part of the barter.

"This one is extremely lightweight, cheaply made, and incredibly rare to find in this condition," said Jones, who believes this one may have been a sample weapon or used for another purpose.

'What to the American Slave is Your Fourth of July?'

First printing of abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ speech, “What to the American Slave is your Fourth of July?” The abolitionist gave his 1852 talk in Rochester, N.Y.

The address “confronted  the contradictions in the American promise of freedom and equality with its central question” about the holiday’s meaning to those in bondage, according to the AHC. It is considered to be a defining moment in U.S. history.

"There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour. Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the every day practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival," Douglass told the audience.

The presentation at the AHC includes audio of an actor reading Douglass' remarks.

John Brown letter, pikes, rifle and figurine

The story goes that a young John Brown witnessed an enslaved boy being beaten with a shovel. From then on, Brown was determined to put an end to the system of bondage.

Years later and while in his 50s, Brown and his family moved to “Bleeding Kansas," where they became engaged in the struggle over slavery. After an attack on abolitionists in Lawrence, Brown led an 1856 raid that left five men and boys believed to be slavery proponents dead.

Brown traveled to his native New England in 1857 to raise money for the cause. He carried a captured Bowie knife and contracted with Connecticut blacksmith Charles Blair to make 950 pikes for $1 each. At some point, Brown decided to use them in the South, rather than Kansas. He hatched a scheme for the weapons to be given to freed and escaped blacks, who would use them on anyone who dared to stop their rebellion. That effort ended in failure at Harpers Ferry, West Va., in 1859. Brown's radical actions hastened the Civil War, historians say.

The AHC display includes Brown’s letter to the pike manufacturer, a figurine, token, a pike and detached pike head, along with a U.S. Model 1855 rifle-musket captured by Brown during the doomed raid on Harpers Ferry.

Film 'Battle Ground / Freedom Ground: What Happened in the Civil War?'

The centerpiece of the new Civil War exhibit is an 18-minute visual timeline presentation. It is quite compelling and is in a semicircular shape, with several viewing benches.

“The film surrounds the audience in the costs and consequences of the Civil War – real quotes help tell the story of the era in the words of those who lived through it, and the audience is flanked on their left by the military costs – changes in territory, successful battles waged – and on their rights by the human costs – the increasing casualties as the war enters history as the bloodiest in American history,” says the brochure.

Flag from freedmen’s refugee camp at Craney Island, Va.

Most of the American flag is long gone, save for the 34 stars and upper-left canton. It flew over a camp on Craney Island near Hampton Roads, Va., that protected about 1,800 escaped slaves, whom Jones said were active in their liberation.

The camp operated for just over a year before closing in September 1863; it was one of dozens of such camps in southeast Virginia.

“Here on small island near Fortress Monroe, formerly enslaved people married, found work, attended school, and built new lives. But freedom was not always what they had imagined. Federal authorities were unprepared for the massive influx of refugees," the museum says.

Jones marvels at the work of conservators. “I almost didn’t recognize it as an artifact (when donated), he said. “It came in a bag.” The DuBose family – central to Atlanta’s memory of the Civil War -- donated the precious artifact.

Flag of the 127^th U.S. Colored Troops

The impetus for the AHC’s investment in artifacts related to African-American soldiers came in 2019, when it bought a hand-painted flag made for the 127^th USCT infantry. The flag depicts a soldier waving farewell to Columbia, a symbol of the United States, with the words “We Will Prove Ourselves Men" at the top

“It’s an iconic knock-your-socks-off artifact,” Jones said at the time. Even an enlisted man’s USCT uniform wouldn’t be as historically significant as this flag.”

This is one of three surviving examples of at least 12 USCT flags painted by David Bustill Bowser.

The 127^th trained at Camp William Penn near Philadelphia in 1864. It took part in combat during the siege of Petersburg and the surrender at Appomattox. USCT units -- which helped turn the tide in several campaigns and battles -- were led by white officers and it took time for soldiers to receive pay equal to their white counterparts.

The flag captures the essence of why 180,000 African Americans volunteered in the Union army during the Civil War. These soldiers and refugees showed the world Blacks were ready and able to liberate themselves.

List of enslaved Africans landed in Cuba, 1863

Documents written on parchment in 1868 detail 120 enslaved persons – some only 10 or 11 years old -- brought to Cuba five years before despite a ban on such trade.

They were found abandoned after their illegal landing near San Juan de las Playas.

The galling ledger includes their age, physical condition and, most chillingly, the branding mark burned in their bodies. The latter were recorded under the heading “distinguishing marks.”

Many of the enslaved are described by their African and Christian names.

“Placed in the colonial emancipado indentured labor system, they were ‘free’ in name but bound to years of forced labor, often on sugar plantations, the exhibit says.

Check for New York Draft Riot damages

Many opposed to Northern military conscription in 1863 rioted in New York City, overwhelming police and leading to scores of deaths and widespread destruction.

Black residents were targeted out of fears of labor competition following emancipation. The home of Hiram Dalton, 61, was ransacked and most of the household possessions were lost. A city relief fund awarded $115 to Dalton for “Damage by rioters.”

The exhibit features a Broadway Bank check written out to Dalton.

“It brought tears to my eyes,” its very human connection shining brighter than the check’s bureaucratic ink, Jones told me.

Confederate battle flag of the 6^th/9^th Tennessee combined

Charles Turner Jr. of Atlanta in recent years donated this Georgia-made flag that flew at the “Dead Angle” at Kennesaw Mountain during the epic June 27, 1864, battle.

The 6^th and 9^th Tennessee regiments consolidated during the war and its soldiers took part in the Atlanta Campaign under the Army of Tennessee as its commanders defended against the approach of Union forces.

The 6^th-9^th were stationed at Cheatham Hill, the bloodiest part of the Kennesaw Mountain battlefield, also known as the Dead Angle.

As the AHC brochure points out, the subsequent capture of Atlanta secured President Abraham Lincoln’s re-election, “and with it, the preservation of the Union and the abolition of slavery.”

MORE COVERAGE:

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2026/06/atlanta-history-center-hopes-to-make.html

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2026/04/compelling-civil-war-artifacts-are.html

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2025/05/first-on-picket-compelling-artifacts.html

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2026/07/old-number-9-confederate-capt-keys.html

Atlanta History Center hopes to make an emotional connection with patrons through immersive 'More Perfect Union' Civil War exhibit, opening in mid-July

Frock coat of  Benjamin Schumpert, a 17-year-old Georgia fatally shot in the head at Chickamauga in 1863; commemorative locket with a photograph of U.S.C.T. soldier; field hospital flag manufactured in Maine (AHC)

Prize artifacts and integrated technology will deeply engage those visiting “More Perfect Union: The American Civil War Era,” the Atlanta History Center says of its gallery opening on July 10.

The AHC this week provided more information and photos from “More Perfect Union,” the first of two Civil War exhibits debuting in coming months.

“Opening during the institution’s centennial year, the expansive new exhibition reimagines how this defining and contested period of American history is presented and understood,” a news release said.

“More Perfect Union” opens in the overhauled DuBose Gallery, which for years was home to “Turning Point: The American Civil War.” The second phase, “Hard Hand of War: Soldiers, Weapons, and Mass Production,” will open in the downstairs Goldstein Gallery some time this winter.

The AHC summarized “More Perfect Union” this way:

“Upon entering, visitors immediately step into an immersive media experience. This plunges them directly into the political storm that engulfed the nation just before the Civil War in 1861. Photographs, headlines, political cartoons, and other imagery flash across multiple screens, while period voices collide in a cacophony of political debate. These are the words of real Americans, revealing the deep divisions, conflicting opinions and uncertainty that defined the era.”

(Above, hand-painted drum carried by New York native William A. McKinzie of the 78th Illinois Infantry during the Atlanta Campaign.)

Digital maps and animated timelines will provide historical context and allow visitors to explore stories and connections at their own pace, “while keeping original artifacts and primary-source interpretation at the center of the experience.”

The remarkable array of artifacts -- many from the museum’s collection, while others were bought in recent years – include an original copy of Frederick Douglass’ speech (left, courtesy AHC), “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, the Confederate flag that flew over Atlanta at the time of the city’s surrender in 1864, Major Gen. William T. Sherman’s personal copy of “Photographic Views of Sherman’s Campaign,” a field hospital flag and the battle flag of the 127th U.S. Colored Troops bearing the words “We Will Prove Ourselves Men.”

Also featured will be uniforms for Union and Confederate soldiers who fought at Chickamauga in 1863 and at Peachtree Creek a year later.

The Atlanta History Center last year closed “Turning Point” to make way for the new galleries that will feature artifacts and a broader discussion of issues that engage the republic to this day: our belief systems, victory, defeat, reconciliation and the evolving meaning of freedom.

Atlanta, museum officials say, is ideal to tell a bigger national story about the Civil War in a striking way. Beyond being the capital of the South and a melting pot, it’s recognized by historians as a crucial battleground for saving the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and the United States itself.

For 30 years, relics collected by an Atlanta father and son formed the core of “Turning Point: The American Civil War.”

The exhibit focused on the soldiers in blue and gray and how they did their deadly work, and visitors were awed by the incredible collection of uniforms, weapons, personal items -- and just about every conceivable type of artillery shell. I enjoyed my visits over the years, but toward the end the presentation seemed outdated and in need of new energy.

Shelter half carried by Cpl. Charles E. Smith of the 32nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry (AHC)

While “Turning Point” did address some big questions about the Civil War, there was limited discussion on technology, slavery and the home front. New, more diverse generations – distanced even more from the Civil War era – are asking deeper questions, the museum says, about why the war happened, how 4 million enslaved Americans gained their freedom, Reconstruction and what the conflict, which took at least 720,000 lives, means today.

The history center is investing $16 million and more than 15,000 square feet for the new exhibits.

Make no mistake, Confederate and Union bayonets, swords, flags, rifles and revolvers will still be a big part of the presentation. To that end, senior military historic and curator Gordon Jones and AHC CEO and president Sheffield Hale told the Picket they are excited about plans to include two large collection of dug relics.

But they are particularly excited about the artifacts related to U.S. Colored Troops. The impetus for that came about in 2019, when the history center bought a hand-painted flag made for the 127^th USCT infantry. It depicts a soldier waving farewell to Columbia, a symbol of the United States, with the words “We Will Prove Ourselves Men.” (AHC photo, click to enlarge)

“More Perfect Union” also incorporates personal stories drawn from the journals, letters, photographs, and everyday objects of the people who lived through the war, the center says.

In a new video from the AHC, Jones detailed the “reimagined” signature Civil War exhibit.

“Atlanta is the home of so many pivotal events that have determined the outcome of American history, starting with the American Civil War. Everywhere you walk in Atlanta, you are on a battlefield. And on those battlefields, that was where the fate of the country was determined. It’s a story of a struggle and had it not been for what happened here, the outcome of the war for Union and emancipation may very well have turned out differently.”

USCT ladder badge worn by veteran; uniform of 1st Lt. George Young of the 143rd New York (AHC)

There will be stories of Confederate and Union soldiers. "This is about people -- men, women, free, enslaved," Jones says in the video.

The renovated Goldstein Gallery – which opens in the winter -- will focus on technology and the Civil War. In part, it will feature the singular collection of the late George W. Wray Jr., showcasing some of the rarest Confederate firearms, swords, uniforms, flags and other items. Some were one of a kind.

When it went on temporary display in 2015, the theme was the weapons were an attempt by a slave-based society to fight an industrial war. The South was hampered by limited manufacturing and the Union blockade of foreign goods.

At the AHC, Civil War aficionados can also see the giant Cyclorama painting of the Battle of Atlanta, related exhibits and the locomotive Texas, one half of the famous “Great Locomotive Chase” in 1862.

Mathew Brady's photographs captured the reality of the Civil War. A new gravesite memorial celebrates the diversity of his subjects

A partial view of the memorial depicts Brady in foreground (Congressional Cemetery)

A new memorial at his gravesite in Washington, D.C., celebrates pioneering Civil War photographer Mathew B. Brady’s legacy.

Photo historian Larry West spearheaded the effort to honor Brady, who died destitute in 1896 and was buried in Congressional Cemetery. The photographer is remembered for his depictions of famous and everyday Americans, and battlefield scenes that brought the horrors of war to American's doorsteps.

Matthew B. Brady

A dedication on Sept. 17 showcased life-size bronze statues of President Abraham Lincoln and civil rights figure Frederick Douglass – among famous Americans photographed by Brady -- a portrait on stone of Brady, a reproduction metal camera and 85 fired porcelains of images, most by the photographer and his associates.

“The memorial features Mathew, recognizing him as the entrepreneur, innovator, team leader and posing artist that he was,” West wrote the Picket in an email this week. 

While it does not include his famous scenes from the Antietam and Gettysburg battlefields and those of campsites, many of the porcelains depict people who were wartime figures.

Historians this year are marking Brady’s 200^th birthday, emphasizing his importance to the field of photojournalism.

“Brady’s photographs of Gettysburg caused a sensation when viewed by members of the public,” says Congressional Cemetery. “Americans were little used to scenes of war that before had only existed in imagination.

“The prior year, in 1862, Brady had shocked the public when he exhibited photographs of dead enemy soldiers, captured by associates Alexander Gardner and James M. Gibson, from the Battle of Antietam.”

Lincoln, Douglass and Anna Murray-Douglas (Congressional Cemetery)

Brady’s team took more than 10,000 photographs by war’s end. He had spent some $100,000 but the federal government initially declined to buy them. Brady declared bankruptcy and struggled financially for the rest of his life.

Eventually, the government purchased Brady's photographs for $25,000, providing him some financial relief. Fortunately, most are available on the Library of Congress website.

Upon his passing in 1896, veterans of the 7^th New York Infantry helped finance Brady's funeral and interment at Congressional Cemetery.

Sept. 17 dedication in southeast Washington (Congressional Cemetery)

"His photographs, and those he commissioned, had a tremendous impact on society at the time of the war, and continue to do so today," says the American Battlefield Trust.

West, a board member of Congressional Cemetery, designed and provided primary financial backing for the memorial.

“Celebrating Brady's outstanding artistic achievements, the memorial reflects the diversity of his subjects and the Washington, D.C. community,” a Facebook post says.

Congressional Cemetery, founded early in the 19^th century, has graves of Washington residents and numerous national figures.

It is the final resting place for about 600 Union service members and 100 Confederates.

“Generals lie next to privates, and brothers who fought on opposite sides rest only a few feet apart.”

Among those buried there are Alfred Pleasanton, a Union cavalry general, Maj. Gen. Andrew Humphreys and executed Lincoln conspirator David Herold.

Visitors can take a self-guided, Civil War-themed walking tour.