BY CLINT SCHEMMER
RICHMOND—Civil War history, for a change, seems to be going over well with the diverse sample of humanity who pour through the former Confederate capital each day.
That’s the impression one gets from talking with people—state workers, lawmakers, teachers and out-of-town visitors—who saw Virginia’s museum-on-wheels on Day 1 of its visit to Richmond’s Capitol Square.
As they ambled through the mobile museum and examined its exhibits, many a thoughtful “hmm” was heard. Others remarked, apparently to themselves, “That’s amazing” and “I didn’t know that.”
Children enjoyed punching buttons on the interactive video displays, twirling around three-dimensional exhibit elements and reading about young people caught up in the nation’s bloodiest trauma.
“It wasn’t w
hat I was expecting when I walked in,” said Julie McClellan of Chesterfield County. “This is our heritage. I am pleasantly surprised that there is so much of a focus on slaves’ lives and the nontraditional soldier impact. This is wonderful, great.”
McClellan, who heard about the HistoryMobile via an announcement made while she was visiting the General Assembly with her son, said she was glad that she and her son, 11-year-old B.J. Beckwith, stopped by to see it.
“I like that it is profiling people that a lot of us have never heard of, profiling the contributions of ordinary people to a great national struggle,” said McClellan, an African–American woman whose sister is Del. Jennifer McClellan, D–Richmond.
“These aren’t the heroes and generals and people you expect to hear about, yet every one of them played a role in this conflict. I was expecting this to be more about Robert E. Lee and J.E.B. Stuart and the people you’re used to hearing about.”
That’s the sort of reaction the HistoryMobile’s creators love to hear, said Cheryl Jackson, executive director of the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission, established by the General Assembly in 2006.
“We hope that people will leave our mobile museum asking lots of questions and wanting to know more,” Jackson said. “And we give them information on the state’s museums and historic sites and tourist attractions, so they can get answers and discover more about Virginia in the Civil War.”
The HistoryMobile, which was launched last summer during the 150th anniversary of the Battle of First Manassas, is making its first visit to Capitol Square this week. Parked in the Darden Garden bus loop between the General Assembly Building, Old City Hall and the State Capitol, it is welcoming the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday.
The free mini-museum, housed in a 53-foot expandable tractor–trailer, has been seen by nearly 20,000 people in its first six months on the road. It’s gone to places as different as Arlington National Cemetery, Saltville and the Booker T. Washington National Monument, and ventured out of state to Bristol, Tenn., and Harpers Ferry, W.Va. This summer, a four-person crew will take to dozens of additional Virginia communities, as well as across the Potomac River to Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland, scene of the war’s bloodiest single day, Jackson said.
“It’s cool, isn’t it?” House Speaker William Howell said during a brisk walk to the HistoryMobile from his office in the General Assembly Building. “I think it’s going famously, going great.”
Howell took a quick walk-through the museum’s four rooms of state-of-the-art, interactive exhibits, which have been refreshed and updated since its Manassas début. The Stafford Republican chairs the state commission coordinating state and local commemorations of the Civil War’s 150th anniversary.
“This is a very obvious example of how we’re reaching out to the whole commonwealth,” he said.
“It’s just a really nifty idea. The HistoryMobile is designed more for children, for students, than the really deep scholar, but it’s got great stuff. I think it’s terrific that members of the legislature will be able to see it.
“One of things we’re really trying to do with the sesquicentennial is education, and this is a wonderful educational opportunity. We’re going to try to take it this year to a lot of a different schools.”
Since last summer, the HistoryMobile staff, the commission and its partners have created a scavenger hunt for schoolchildren, written an in-depth guide for educators to the museum’s exhibits, published a booklet for the public and posted all of the exhibits’ videos on Vimeo and YouTube for teachers to use in the classroom—and for everyone to watch.
The mobile museum is a collaborative effort of the commission, Virginia Tourism Corp. and the Virginia Historical Society. Volvo North America donated the rig’s diesel tractor, manufactured at its Dublin, Va., plant.
HistoryMobile: bit.ly/cw150hm
Vimeo: vimeo.com/30315075
YouTube: bit.ly/hmcw150video
Clint Schemmer: 540/368-5029
cschemmer@freelancestar.com
