From 1861-1865, Americans battled over preserving their Union and ending slavery.  The Civil War is the focus of this section of The Price of Freedom: Americans at War, an online exhibition. This pivotal and complicated period of American history is divided into sections that allow

In this post, readers will see what a Civil War-era lithograph reveals about life in a prisoner of war camp early in the Civil War.  The significance of the piece, however, lies both in that insight and in the contrast between living conditions in the camp in 1862 and in the later war years.

In this post, Readers will get a glimpse at a few surprising innovations that helped change the technological landscape of the Civil War.  Produced in conjunction with a symposium held at the Museum in November 2012, this piece covers a range of topics and consults a variety of experts. 

In this post, students will learn about Frederick Douglass as more than an orator and activist. Though Douglass' persona was poised, dignified, and proper, he was also a fighter and an agitator. Written by Chris Wilson, Director of Daily Programs and the Program in African American Culture, this

In this post, students will learn about George Westinghouse, Sr. during his Civil War service, before he became a pioneer of the electrical industry. A transcript of the letter is availalbe for download. Written by Hal Wallace, Associate Curator of Electricity Collections, this post is publi

In this post, students will learn how the Civil War impacted the development of the watch-making industry in the United States by studying one particular watch in the collection. Written by Carlene Stephens, Curator for the Division of Work and Industry, this post is published on the Mu

In this post, students will learn about an inscription hidden inside President Abraham Lincoln's watch that was a secret until the Museum investigated further in 2009. The message was put there by watchmaker Jonathan Dillon, who was repairing Lincoln's watch when the first shots were fired on For

In this post, students will learn how photographs shaped the public’s knowledge and experience of the Civil War, and how people shaped photographs to leave a legacy of how they personally experienced and understood the war. Written by Shannon Perich, Associate Curator for the Photogra

In this post, students will learn about Washington during the Civil War. During the war, Washington’s busy wharves were the focal point for moving people and supplies into and out of the city. Here the wounded from the Virginia battlefields were off-loaded from steamboats to await transpor

In this post, students will explore Louisa May Alcott's service as a nurse during the Civil War. While Alcott is perhaps best known as the author of the 19th-century classic Little Women, she also served as a Union nurse in Washington, D.C. at Georgetown’s Union Hotel Hospita