An effort to build two effective Confederate warships turned out to be a bust in Columbus, Ga. A talk Friday will examine how a postwar industrial boom followed

CSS Jackson in the Chattahoochee River late in the Civil War (U.S. Navy photo)

A symposium exploring the historical and environmental significance of Georgia’s waterways will feature a talk on how the production of two Confederate gunboats set the stage for new postwar industry in the Columbus area.

Logan Barrett, director of history and collections at the National Civil War Naval Museum, on Friday afternoon (April 11) will present “The Chattahoochee River Squadron: Wartime Ending, New South Beginning” at the Georgia Archives in Morrow.

“I will be arguing that although these ships had almost no military success during the Civil War, their historical significance rests as precursors to New South industry,” Barrett (below) told the Picket in an email.

Popularized by Atlanta newspaper editor Henry Grady, the term “New South” signified the move from a largely agrarian society to one with more industry. Much of this occurred in the late 19^th century following Reconstruction. But the economic modernization largely failed to benefit poor whites and blacks and kept intact the Jim Crow system.

Columbus was a critically important industrial center for the Confederacy, making a wide range of weapons and equipment.

Today, the stars of the naval museum are the remains of the ironclad CSS Jackson and twin-screw wooden ship CSS Chattahoochee. 

The Jackson (originally named the Muscogee) was designed to protect Columbus from Union navy marauders and blockaders. Construction began in early 1863 but there were numerous problems, including coming up with a worthy power system. It was built entirely in Columbus.

When it was finally launched in December 1864, the local newspaper said: “This splendid ram was successfully launched yesterday at about 11 o’clock and now sits as calmly upon the Chattahoochee as a duck upon a pond."

Engines for the Chattahoochee were made in Columbus and shipped downstream to Saffold, about 10 miles north of the Florida border, where the wooden boat was built. The ship sank after a boiler explosion, was raised and moved to Columbus, where it was being refitted at war’s end.

Both were lost in April 1865 at war’s end -- the Jackson set afire by Federal captors and the Chattahoochee scuttled by its own crew. Neither vessel fired upon the enemy in their relatively short histories. 

They were recovered from the Chattahoochee River in the 1960s.

Postcard showing the Eagle and Phenix Mills in Columbus early in the 20th century

Barrett’s PowerPoint starts with the founding of the city in 1828 and covers the advent of textile mills, the formation of the Confederate navy yard, enslaved labor, the redesign and cost overruns of the Jackson, postwar rebuilding (including the return of the Columbus Iron Works and the Eagle and Phenix Mills) and labor conditions.

Barrett is working on a larger research project for the museum's planned exhibition “Columbus: A Civil War City.” Topics will include Horace King, a remarkable bridge builder born into slavery.

“During the Civil War, Columbus supplied the Confederacy with textile products, gun carriages, cannon and shot, Indian rubber cloth, tents, military caps and uniforms, steam engines, and gun boats,” according to Historic Columbus.The Chattahoochee River city near doubled in wartime population to 17,000. 

The city fell to Union troops near the end of the war.

Much of Columbus’ heavy industry declined after the war, but it remained strong in textiles and mill products for decades. Utilizing cheap labor, industrialists made capital investments and built textile mills across town.

“Both small and large entrepreneurs immediately rebuilt their enterprises. Foundries started producing by June, and textile mills were in back in operation by December 1865. By 1870 more than 100 manufacturers operated within the city, but the small nontextile companies languished in that decade,” says the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

Crucial to the New South was a diversified economy, including tobacco, and the growth of railroads and  transportation systems. But the good times didn’t last forever. Mills shuttered as international competitors grew.

Revitalization in the 1990s and Fort Benning’s strength turned things around in the core of the city. Columbus State University lofts filled vacant buildings and taverns and shops replaced wig shops.

Other talks at the free Friday-Saturday symposium include environmental protection of the Chattahoochee River, recycling of treated wastewater in Clayton County, water and wildlife diversity on the Georgia coast, maritime archaeological sites and the journeys of those using various water craft.

Barrett will speak around 2:35 p.m. Friday for about an hour. The symposium is free and open to the public, with no registration required. It will take place at the Georgia Archives, 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow. Details are here

2-day symposium focuses on hellish conditions in Missouri during war

Four nationally recognized speakers on topics ranging from guerrilla warfare and slavery to events in Missouri during the Civil War are featured in a symposium on Friday, Aug. 27, and Saturday, Aug. 28, in Springfield. The in-person and online event is hosted by Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Foundation. -- Details

Longstreet: Love him ... or not? Symposium examines his actions during, after war

James Longstreet’s triumphs and travails on the battlefield and in the Southern society he inhabited after the Civil War are the subject of an upcoming symposium in metro Atlanta.

The Center for the Study of the Civil War Era at Kennesaw State University on March 18 will feature talks by historian and author Jeffry D. Wert, history professor Keith Bohannon and Brian Wills, director of the center. The program is entitled "Longstreet to Redemption."

Wills told the Picket he will focus on the Confederate general’s independent campaigns at Suffolk, Va.; and Knoxville, Tenn., in 1863.

“Longstreet struggled to replicate success on his own,” away from the Army of Northern Virginia and Gen. Robert E. Lee, Wills said. “His inability to achieve results in these operations did not negate his performances before or after those campaigns, but exposed limitations for Longstreet in working under such circumstances.”

Bohannon, who teaches at the University of West Georgia, will summarize Longstreet’s actions in the 1863 Chickamauga campaign – including a fortuitously timed attack that sent thousands of Federals fleeing before Major. Gen. George Thomas stemmed the disaster.

Statue in Gainesville, Ga.

Bohannon’s talk is called “The Bull of the Woods Goes West” – and he will cover several areas.

“I'm hoping to explore first how various historians have interpreted Longstreet's desire in 1863 to go west and reinforce (Gen. Braxton) Bragg's army,” Bohannon said. “Was Longstreet hoping to get command of the Army of Tennessee?”

The historian said he will discuss William Glenn Robertson’s view that Longstreet did not have a grand strategy at Chickamauga. “Lastly, I plan on concluding with some thoughts about the acrimonious relationship that developed between Longstreet and Bragg in the weeks following Chickamauga.”

Wert – who wrote a 1993 biography of the controversial general -- will examine the “criticism that Longstreet received following the war, largely associated with the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg, Longstreet's criticisms of General Lee and his postwar career as a Republican,” the Civil War Center said in a press release. “(Longstreet) was, as he stated, arraigned before the world as the "only one responsible for the loss of the cause."

Wert and other historians have done much to bring a new assessment of Longstreet’s tarnished postwar reputation.

Piedmont Hotel, the general's Gainesville residence.

People who want to learn more about Longstreet and his legacy also can take part in an April 8 bus tour to Gainesville, Ga., where the general lived his last years. The event includes a guided tour of his home led by Wills and Richard Pilcher of the Longstreet Society, admission to the Northeast Georgia History Center and a boxed lunch.

The Longstreet Society works to rehabilitate the image of Lee's "War Horse." It argues he has been unfairly vilified by postwar detractors.

Advance registration for the 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. March 18 symposium is available here for a donation of $5 to benefit the center and its programs. The April 8 bus event has a cost is $59 per person. Kennesaw Corps Annual member admission is $49. You can register here.

Three famous vessels: Conservation scorecard and biggest remaining mysteries

H.L. Hunley as exterior is cleaned (Friends of the Hunley)

Just for fun, I asked three Civil War shipwreck conservators and a historian at last weekend’s symposium in Columbus, Ga., for a scorecard on where the work stands and the biggest questions they hope research will reveal. Here are the responses, as provided at the “Wrecks, Recovery & Conservation” program at the National Civil War Naval Museum. The scale is 1-10, with 10 indicating completion:

Jim Jobling, CSS Georgia
Wreck raised: 2015 (another casemate section recovery scheduled for 2017)
Conservation: 1-2
Interpretation: 1
Biggest questions? We are an artifact dump site. I want to know how the CSS Georgia was designed and built. I don’t think we can answer that. We have the top and none of the bottom. There is no hull or engine. We have a challenge.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan, CSS Georgia documentary producer
Biggest questions? I want to know more about the crew’s lives. We are looking for a sailor’s diary. There are stories to be told. Also, more about the Savannah women who raised the money to build it.

Will Hoffman, USS Monitor
Wreck raised: Anchor in 1983, propeller in 1998, steam engine and section of hull in 2001, turret in 2002
Conservation: 5-6 (completion by 2035)
Interpretation: 8-9
Biggest questions? Why the Monitor sank while being towed to Beaufort, N.C. It may have been failure of the hull, which had a riveted V shape. It belly flopped in the waves. Also, who were the two sailors found in the turret and how should we present the artifacts (at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Va.)?

USS Monitor turret (Courtesy of The Mariners' Museum and Park)

Paul Mardikian, H.L Hunley

Wreck raised: 2000
Conservation: 7 (About five more years)
Interpretation: 8-9
Biggest questions? What caused it to sink. We are going back to the materials; there were flaws in the metal. What was happening may not be one thing. I am confident we can pin it down. We want to solve the case.

CSS Georgia, H.L. Hunley and USS Monitor conservators detail challenges, rewards

Will Hoffman details USS Monitor's remarkable engine

One was reduced to salvage items. Another was a traditional shipwreck. And the third came up largely in one piece, its contents a time capsule of innovative naval warfare.

The discovery and recovery of Civil War wrecks are a blink of the eye compared to their cleaning and the decades it takes to conserve items as large as a turret or as small as matchstick.

The complexity, cost and challenges of conservation was the subject of the “Wrecks, Recovery & Conservation” symposium held Saturday (July 30) at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Ga. The speakers featured preeminent conservation experts who have been tasked with helping bring the stories of the CSS Georgia, USS Monitor and the H.L. Hunley to the public.

“What is the long-term process of bringing these articles to life to us?” Jeff Seymour, director of history and education at the Columbus museum, asked before the conservators spoke to 25 patrons who listened closely and viewed PowerPoint slides.

It starts with patience. Conservation can take decades. 

CSS GEORGIA: Working with salvage

Seymour called the Confederate ironclad scuttled in Savannah, Ga., “the hot recovery topic right now.”

Filmmaker Michael Jordan, who is producing a documentary, highlighted three aspects: Ordinary people doing extraordinary things (22 Savannah women raised the equivalent of $2.6 million to build the boat), failure sometimes being good (while it was too underpowered to engage in battle, the CSS Georgia was a strong deterrent as a floating battery), and being forgotten is the best way to being saved.

Jim Jobling (above), chief conservator on the CSS Georgia, provided details of the unique condition of the boat, which is being moved as part of a channel deepening project at the busy port. It was salvaged a couple times after the war. Buoys and dredges caused damage in the decades since and a swift current makes recovery difficult.

“We are not dealing with a wreck,” he told the audience. “What we have is a salvage dump site.”

While the Savannah River is only 42 feet deep, visibility for divers often is negligible. An array of technology and voice commands led Navy and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contract divers to artifacts.

“This is archaeology by Braille, but we have a positioning system,” said Jobling. The location of items is recorded and the divers work in 10-foot squares. (A large portion of the CSS Georgia was brought up in 2015, but crews are returning in 2017 to bring up the east casemate. Numerous attempts were made to bring it up, but there was not enough support beneath the artifact. Iron beams will be used.)

Several of these were found in the wreckage

Another challenge was building trust and sharing skills with the U.S. Navy salvage team that brought up larger items, include a propeller and several guns. (That group also provided brute strength: One Navy diver carried two Brooke gun bolts totaling 180 pounds to a basket.). “Once they learned the history, they became part of it,” Jobling said.

Before he traveled from the conservation lab at Texas A&M University, Jobling believed the recovery would yield 35 tons of material. Jobling shipped 140 tons (15,500 artifacts) in numerous two-day shipments.

Twenty-four tanks are involved in the process, and hundreds of artifacts currently are being rinsed to remove chlorides. “We have only started the conservation process,” which could last 10 years.

USS MONITOR -- Understanding your artifacts

Chief conservator Will Hoffman, who works at the USS Monitor Center at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Va., spent a good amount of his talk describing the science and techniques of conservation once items are in the lab.

Will Hoffman

He described forces that cause corrosion and technology that can combat further damage.

Iron can become very brittle after years of exposure to ocean chlorides. Hoffman said it very important to know the materials they are working with before attempting to take items apart for further cleaning. “You only get one shot at it.”

When building a conservation plan, Hoffman said, it is important to know three things about an artifact: How was it made? How was it used? How has it degraded?

Experts often work first on smaller pieces to refine techniques. Sometimes it can take months to build a rig that can eliminate concretion (hardened layers of sand and shell) fixed on an item, he said. “I have to do this step to do this step before I take it apart.”

The work, which follows a protocol, is painstaking. For example, 10 tons of concretion were removed from the Monitor’s remarkable engine.

View of the engine (Courtesy: The Mariners' Museum and Park)

Reverse osmosis tanks (Courtesy: The Mariners' Museum and Park)

A reverse osmosis water filtering system installed in 2010 has assisted conservators, as well as detailed schematic drawings for the ironclad, which fought the Merrimack at the Battle of Hampton Roads in March 1862 and sank while being towed at the end of that year.

Those working on the CSS Georgia, by contrast, are stymied by the fact no blueprint or plans are known to have survived.

Adding to the complexity of the Monitor project was the recovery of the remains of two sailors found in the signature revolving turret.

Despite facial reconstructions and the study of their DNA, no formal identities have been made. They were buried at Arlington National Cemetery in 2013. “It was a beautiful ceremony,” Hoffman said.

Personal items belonging to the pair are being held in case confirmed descendants step forward.

H.L. HUNLEY: Coming to life

Paul Mardikian with Jeff Seymour

Senior conservator Paul Mardikian, who previously did conservation work on the CSS Alabama, lost off Cherbourg, France, provided an overview of that shipwreck and the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley.

The Hunley, which was the first combat submarine to sink a ship, was lifted out of Charleston Harbor in August 2000.

The conservation team was among the first to use digital scanning. Ten tons of sediment from were removed and the iron vessel has been through electrolysis and several chemical solutions to help loosen the concretion.

Conservators, because of the toxic environment, wear special masks and protective gear when working during the day (the tank refills at night). Adding to worries was spilled mercury from the boat’s depth gauge. Experts must be careful with the pneumatic drills that chip away at concretion.

Cleaning of exterior (Friends of the Hunley)

They had to take extreme care: The bodies of the eight crew members who died after the sinking of the USS Housatonic were inside. “This is a grave, a battle site, a crime scene,” Mardikian said. “You have tangible human remains.” X-rays could damage remaining DNA.

“It is relatively rare to find human remains,” said Mardikian. Among his duties, beyond studying them, was to ensure the remains would not decay before their 2004 burial.

“Saltwater is good for (preservation of) human remains, bad for (metal) corrosion, he said.

The scientists had to create their own conservation plan and techniques for such a unique scenario. And there were surprises: Among them, no gun was found inside, but a matchstick was. “They are the most ephemeral objects to conserve,” Mardikian said of an item likely used to light a smoker’s pipe or a lantern.

Remnants of clothing fabric had the consistency of toilet paper. Cashmere and silk, he said, are among the most durable. In the realm of you get what you pay for, the artifacts made of the highest quality have proven to be the easiest to conserve. The famous lantern, he said, was made of inexpensive tin.

Over the 16 years, there have been occasional setbacks: Erratic funding, delays and drainage problems with the conservation tank. It’s a 10-20 year process, Mardikian said.

A view of the July 30 symposium in Columbus, Ga.

But there have been huge rewards. Deconcretion of the submarine’s exterior and interior have brought the warship to life. “When you look at the sub design, it is splendid. It is like looking at the sub for the first time,” Mardikain said.

“The cast iron is very beautiful. You want to kiss it. But it is very corroded.”

As he continues to guide conservation work on the Hunley at Clemson University’s Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, S.C., Mardikian does other work with his company, Terra Mare Conservation.

One project was working with a venture by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to conserve a Saturn V rocket engine that propelled Apollo 11 to the moon in 1969.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin told Mardikian he was fortunate to work on such an array of projects: The slow, hand-cranked Hunley and the most-powerful liquid-fueled engine.

LATER THIS WEEK: Remaining mysteries

Updates on H.L. Hunley, USS Monitor, CSS Georgia conservation ahead of symposium

Dahlgren gun recovered in 2015 from CSS Georgia (USACE)

Being involved in underwater archaeology and the conservation of artifacts isn’t for the faint of heart, or without its setbacks – but the rewards can be amazing.

Conservators working on three famous vessels – the H.L. Hunley, USS Monitor and the CSS Georgia, will give talks and take part in a panel discussion on July 30 at the “Wrecks, Recovery and Conservation” symposium open to the public at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Ga.

The symposium comes as conservators continue to make remarkable finds and ensure the long-term survival of artifacts and components of vessels that were lost during the Civil War:

CSS Georgia: Conservation of artifacts at Texas A&M University’s Conservation Research Laboratory continues. As of early June, nearly 100% of the 15,500 artifacts recovered thus far had been inventoried. Recovery of the remaining casemate sections of the Confederate ironclad is scheduled for summer 2017.  

(Friends of the Hunley)

H.L. Hunley: The Confederate submarine that went down in February 1864 after it sank a Union vessel in Charleston Harbor, continues to yield fascinating material. Features such as the crank, flywheel and bulkheads are currently being uncovered. Rope (right) and dozens of gaskets are being conserved. Researchers still do not know why the Hunley was lost after it set off a mine and sank the USS Housatonic.

USS Monitor: By the end of this week, conservators will finish the draining of the ironclad’s signature gun turret. They have been removing layers of marine concretion loosened from the turret’s surface. Some 110 items found in the turret have been added to the collection of artifacts from the Monitor, famous for its famous battle against the CSS Virginia in March 1862. It sank in a storm on Dec. 31, 1862, off North Carolina. Its wreckage was discovered in 1973.

Concretion removal on Hunley a couple years ago (Friends of the Hunley)

At the symposium, the experts will detail the planning, logistics, teamwork and funding needs on projects that take decades to complete, said Jeff Seymour, director of history and education at the Columbus museum.

“It is a better understanding of what it takes to preserve something like this for the future,” he said. “With the (CSS) Georgia, it is the beginning part of a major project … the other two, what are things like going toward the middle or end of the project, or a lot closer to it.”

Presenters are:

-- Michael Jordan, a filmmaker who has researched the CSS Georgia’s history and early archaeology.

-- Jim Jobling, chief conservator on the CSS Georgia and research associate at Texas A&M University’s Conservation Research Laboratory.

Will Hoffman

-- Will Hoffman, conservation project manager and senior conservator with the USS Monitor Collection, based at Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, Va.

-- Paul Mardikian, chief conservator for the H.L. Hunley Project, working at Clemson University’s Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, S.C.

 “Through a series of informative lectures, symposium attendees will be briefed on the challenging, complex and costly aspect of locating shipwrecks, as well as the amount of time and effort required to actually recover them properly and record and stabilize the items found on them,” the Columbus museum says.

Here are a few more details gleaned this week by the Picket during inquiries on the status of the conservation efforts:

CSS Georgia

Russell Wicke, spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Savannah district, said Jobling “will be discussing the challenges the artifacts presented and field methods developed to overcome them.”

Most of the recovered artifacts came up in 2015 during the recovery of the CSS Georgia during the current river deepening project in the Savannah River. Contract and Navy divers brought up thousands of large and small items, including artillery, from the scuttled vessel. But they had to leave a lot more down on the river bottom.

Jim Jobling with rear gun sight for cannon (USACE)

“Recovery of the remaining casemate sections is scheduled for summer 2017, Wicke said. “The team will utilize methods that will result in an intact-as-possible recovery of the sections. The plan is still being worked out, but methods will be similar to those used in 2015.”

There’s been no determination on where the signature artifacts from the CSS Georgia will be displayed, but Savannah is probably the best bet.

Seymour, of the National Civil War Naval Museum, said the venue would be interested in showcasing some items from the CSS Georgia.

“First and foremost, crew material. What is the day-to-day existence of the sailor? Second-tier stuff would be construction. How is this thing built?”

Experts are trying to learn more about construction, power train and design of the CSS Georgia, which was built in Savannah. There are no surviving blueprints.

USS Monitor

Senior conservator Will Hoffman wrote this update, which has been edited:

“Starting in the first week of May, Monitor Center staff began a major documentation and conservation treatment regime on the turret. Work began with the removal of the electrolytic reduction (ER) system. An assessment of the condition of the artifact was conducted to identify how effective the electrochemical process has been in loosing corrosion products and freeing concreted artifacts. After the assessment, the staff conducted a widespread cleaning campaign on the interior and exterior of the turret. This work culminated in the removal of all remaining nut guards and associated fasteners on the interior of the turret along with several other artifacts.

Cannonball dents are evident in turret (Library of Congress)

“Since the cleaning work began, 110 new objects have been accessioned into the collection. Contemporaneously with the treatment work, Monitor Center staff coordinated gallery, lab, and turret tours to cultivate donor support and generate interest in the project. Additionally, the turret was photographed from multiple angles to create updated panoramic photos of the interior and exterior of the artifact. This information along with the other photos will be used to create a 3-D model of the turret using photogrammetry software. In addition, a company named Automated Precision completed a laser scan of the turret to also create a 3-D model. Both models will be used to aid in the structural condition assessment of the artifact as well as to be a resource to conduct an archaeological investigation of the cannonball dents in the turret's surface. 

“This week, we are installing a new electrolytic reduction system to optimize the corrosion and chloride removal process. We will get back into the tank next summer.     

“Both the Mariners' Museum and NOAA are committed to the conservation effort. In the fall, we will be conducting a major cleaning effort on the engine room bulkhead components as well as a large assortment of copper piping.

“We have at the museum almost 1/5 of the Monitor, consisting of the majority of the engine room and turret. For the engine room, we have five of the vessel's engines, including the main engine, ventilation engines and two direct-acting Worthington pumps. We also have cast diamond plate flooring, steps, railings, engine room bulkheads, gauges, the main steam line from the boilers, condenser, propeller shaft, propeller and support skeg. To our knowledge, we have one of the oldest mid-19th century engine rooms in existence.”

Most of the Monitor remains on ocean floor (NOAA)

Hoffman said at this point there are no plans to recover additional artifacts from the wreck site off Cape Hatteras, N.C. NOAA does continue to monitor its condition.

H.L. Hunley

This summary is from conservator Johanna Rivera-Diaz:

“Hunley tank: The interior deconcretion of the submarine began early this year. Features such as the crank, flywheel and bulkheads are currently being uncovered.

“This year, several rope artifacts have been conserved. The biggest rope artifact from the submarine was found in the aft compartment surrounded by sediment and around the aft section of the crank. The rope was removed in 12 sections, each of them ranging from 30 to 90 cm long. The rope has gone through and extensive cleaning to remove sediment, concretion as well chemical cleaning to remove iron corrosion products. They have also gone through consolidation in preparation for the drying process.

Paul Mardikian at work (Friends of the Hunley)

“Dozens of gaskets are currently being conserved and dry. Gaskets were found in the viewing ports, pumps and machinery from the submarine. The gaskets are made of vulcanized rubber lined with cotton. They have also gone through chemical and mechanical cleaning as well as controlled air drying in a humidity chamber.

Forward ballast pump (Friends of the Hunley)

“Recently, conservators also completed the deconcretion and disassembly of H.L. Hunley’s forward ballast tank pump. The disassembled parts include the pump body, the lower inflow housing, the outflow valve and pipe, copper alloy valves, cast iron valve lids, rubber gaskets, a cotton sealing ring from the piston, along with bolts, nuts, and washers. All parts of this artifact are currently under conservation treatment.”

“The “Wrecks, Recovery and Conservation" symposium is scheduled for Saturday, July 30, at the National Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus, 1002 Victory Drive, Columbus, Ga. It lasts from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost, including lunch, is $50 for the public, $40 for members and $25 for students. Click here for more information or call 706-327-9798. 

Fresh insights into the Civil War

Civil War medicine, diplomacy and the Emancipation Proclamation will be discussed at an October 13 symposium entitled “1862: Following the Path to  Freedom” at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

The 9 a.m. to noon event is sponsored by the school’s Civil War Center in partnership with Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. Speakers include:

-- George Wunderlich, executive director of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md., will share insights on Civil War medical practices.

--  Howard Jones, research professor at the University of Alabama, and author of numerous publications, will lecture on diplomacy efforts.

-- Craig L. Symonds, professor emeritus at the U.S.  Naval Academy where he taught naval history and Civil War history for 30 years, will discuss Abraham Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the president's efforts toward colonization.

The free symposium is at Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Rd., Kennesaw, Ga 30144, Social Sciences Building, auditorium room 1021. Free parking will be available in the West Parking Deck, on Campus Loop Drive. More details on the center.

Symposium set March 25-26 in Kennesaw

The Center for the Study of the Civil War Era and Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park will host a March 25-26 symposium on new interpretations of the Civil War, "From Civil War to Civil Rights."

The events are free and open to the public.

The symposium will examine slavery and the multifaceted legacies of the war. Events are taking place at Old Zion Baptist Church in Marietta, Kennesaw State University and the battlefield park.

Symposium presenters include:

-- Thomas M. Costa, chair and professor of history at the University of Virginia-Wise and director of UVA’s Geography of Slavery in Virginia Project. His topic is “Runaway Slave Advertisements: Teaching from Primary Documents.”

-- Vernon Burton, professor of history and sociology, University of Illinois, and author of the award-winning book “The Age of Lincoln." His topic: "The Age of Lincoln, Then and Now."

-- Emory M. Thomas, Regents Professor of History Emeritus, University of Georgia, and author of acclaimed biographies of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and J.E.B. Stuart. His topic: "How the Civil War Happened."

-- Robert A. Pratt, professor of history, University of Georgia and author of “The Color of their Skin: Education and Race in Richmond, Virginia” and a recent chronicle of the desegregation at UGA. His topic: "Let Us Die to Make Men Free: Reflections on African-American Emancipation and Mythmaking at the Civil War’s Sesquicentennial."

-- Judith Richardson, filmmaker andco-producer of the Academy Award-nominated PBS series, “Eyes on the Prize,’ and a founding member of SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee). Her topic: "Letting Our Light Shine: The Making of Eyes on the Prize and Other Movement Films."

• More information on the symposium

National Archives at Atlanta sets symposium, treasures in your attic display

The National Archives at Atlanta is sponsoring a day-long program where people can display and learn more about their Civil War heirlooms.

“The Civil War: America’s Long Struggle” begins at 9 a.m. April 16 at the archives, 5780 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, Ga.. The cost is $20 per person, with registration and payment due by March 31. Lunch is provided.

A morning symposium includes David Ferriero, archivist of the United States; Kenneth Noe, Auburn University professor and author of “Reluctant Rebels”; and Daniel Stowell, director of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln at the Abraham Lincoln President Library and Museum.

The programs’s “Civil War Treasures in Your Nation’s Attic,” starts at 2 p.m. Display space is limited to the first 100 individuals who register and pay.

Participants are encouraged to bring Civil War-era photographs, books, diaries, letters, family keepsakes, games, uniforms and more. The display is limited to three items per person and a display space of 2 feet by 3 feet.

Up to three firearms can be brought, but no replicas. Security personnel will inspect all firearms, which must be disabled and cleaned. No bullets, ammunition, swords, knives or sabers are allowed. All items must be pre-approved.

“It’s one thing to hear about the Civil War in a lecture or read about it in books. It’s another to dig through your attic and find your family’s place in the greater narrative,” said Jim McSweeney, regional administrator, National Archives at Atlanta.

Subject area experts can provide information, but no monetary value, on the items. Georgia Public Broadcasting will film the exhibits for future broadcast.

Those displaying artifacts must attend the morning symposium.

The event includes an exhibition of 19th-century newspapers chronicling the African-American experience.

• More info on symposium, artifacts display

Photo: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration