One writer's take on the war's 150th

The Picket urges you to take in this eloquent op-ed piece by Tony Horwitz, author of "Confederates in the Attic." It includes this: "The Civil War isn’t just an adjunct to current events. It’s a national reserve of words, images and landscapes, a storehouse we can tap in lean times like these, when many Americans feel diminished, divided and starved for discourse more nourishing than cable rants and Twitter feeds." • Column

N.C. planning events, May symposium

The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources is planning the commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the war. • Article

Civil War items are missing in Pa.

A new audit says a Pennsylvania state agency can't locate more than 1,800 historical artifacts, including sculptures worth $42,000 and Civil War items, including a rifle. • Article

Dolls checked for signs of smuggling

Two Civil War-era dolls thought to have been used to smuggle medicine past Union blockades were X-rayed, disclosing hollowed papier-mache heads that once could have contained quinine or morphine for wounded or malaria-stricken Confederate troops. • Story

Modern waterproofing for ironclad replica

The addition of NASA-approved waterproofing technology to the CSS Neuse II has enabled the Civil War ironclad replica to do what the original ram could not — stand the test of time. • Story