Submarine H.L. Hunley: Mesmerizing, fragile artifacts on display at The Charleston Museum provide insight into crew's appearance and how they worked as a team

Items associated with Hunley skipper George Dixon (all photos courtesy The Charleston Museum; click to enlarge)

Among all the crew clothing, personal items and components of the H.L. Hunley now on display at The Charleston Museum, historic textiles curator Virginia Theerman has a few favorites.

“I find (crew member) Miller's windowpane check vest fragment, (Lt. George) Dixon's shoe with his footprint, and the yellow sling that helped raise the submarine to be some of the most compelling objects in the exhibition,” said Theerman.

“Textiles from the Deep: Findings from the H.L. Hunley Submarine” opened this past weekend in the South Carolina city. It is the first time these newly conserved textile fragments are on view to the public.

Each of the eight crew members have a slant board display with their archeological materials from inside the Hunley. A mannequin represents one interpretation of how that man might have been dressed, using garments primarily pulled from The Charleston Museum's collection. (At left, bandana worn by crew member James A. Wicks.)

The gallery is a U-shape, and the introductory panel leads the visitor right into the space. 

“Everything I want them to take away is in the label texts,” Theerman told the Picket in an email Wednesday. “We're establishing the importance of textile conservation, recreating the possible garments of the individuals, and situating the H.L. Hunley within its moment in naval warfare history.”

The exhibit, which runs through April 4, 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 Clemson 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.

Exterior rivets, crew member Miller's vest, ballast blocks from interior floor (The Charleston Museum)

The exhibit at The Charleston Museum is sure to get a patron's attention.

On the left is a replica of the hand crank used to power the vessel. Behind that is a profile of the sub’s exterior. Numerous artifacts are in the foreground, including tools.

The next section explores the recovery of the Hunley.(below).

Past that is an area that focuses on the painstaking conservation of the submarine itself and all the items found inside with the crew (below, click to enlarge).

The rest of the display are the eight mannequins and items found with or near each individual. That includes clothing fragments, a bandana, buttons and shoes.

Given it having been open only a few days, Theerman said she doesn’t have yet a sense of the public’s reception of the exhibit

“However, the gallery was definitely occupied the couple of times I was upstairs today, which is always lovely to see.”

MORE ON THE HUNLEY:

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2025/02/these-tools-helped-keep-submarine.html

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2020/05/hl-hunley-fascination-social-media-post.html

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2019/11/new-clue-hunley-crew-wasnt-using-air.html

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2015/01/hl-hunley-scientists-peeling-away-crust.html

Ballast water pipe from the submarine H.L. Hunley (Photos courtesy The Charleston Museum)

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 Clemson 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)

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