Thanksgiving in Alexandria, 1862
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In 1861, Julia Wilbur celebrated Thanksiving quietly in New York State. The following year was a different story.
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Visiting Dr. Mudd
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Contemplating the role of Dr. Samuel Mudd in the Lincoln assassination, while surrounded by his and his family's possessions.
Read MoreLost Alexandria
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Lance Mallamo helped a rapt audience "find" some pieces of lost Alexandria.
Read MoreChicago's Abraham Lincoln Book Shop
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Watch my conversation with Bjorn Skaptason on Author's Voice at Chicago's Abraham Lincoln Book Shop.
Read MoreSgt. Major Christian Fleetwood: USCT Member, Medal of Honor Recipient, Diary Keeper
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Few first-person accounts by USCT are known, which is why the diary of Sgt. Major Christian Fleetwood caught my interest.
Read MoreThe Athenaeum in Old Town Alexandria
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Meredith Barber on the history of the Athenaeum building in Old Town Alexandria.
Read MorePoint Lookout, Maryland: A Confederate POW Camp, a Union Fort, and a Place to Fish
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Point Lookout's location marked it for many things during the Civil War, including a large Confederate POW camp.
Read MoreUpdate--Appomattox Statue, Then and Now
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The Confederate veteran has stood on Alexandria's main north-south thoroughfare for more than 100 years. What should happen to it now?
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The Harriet Tubman Byway on the Eastern Shore
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A trip along the Harriet Tubman Byway is a good reminder of injustice and bravery.
Read MoreCharles County, Maryland: Two Stops on a Summer Saturday
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A visit to the Thomas Stone Historic Site and Port Tobacco on a summer Saturday.
Read MoreQ-and-A with Pamela Toler, author of Heroines of Mercy Street
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Historian and author Pamela Toler posed some questions to me about Julia Wilbur and Civil War Alexandria.
Read MoreSusan Ireland's Boarding House on Seventh Street
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Among Susan Ireland's investments was the building where Clara Barton lived in the 1860s. But how did Ireland get her money, and how could she invest as a woman in that era?
Read MoreCostumes from Mercy Street at the Lyceum
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Check out four costumes used on the PBS series Mercy Street--worn by Alice Green, Emma Green, Mary Phinney, and Jed Foster.
Read More"What an Immense City": Julia Wilbur Visits New York in July 1863
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Julia Wilbur does New York City--early July 1863. I follow her footsteps--late June 2017.
Read MoreMason's Island: or A Bully Little Island in the Potomac*
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Notes from a talk about Theodore Roosevelt Island by NPS expert Brad Krueger, who also spurred my visit there last weekend.
Read MoreFor Mainers and Maine-Lovers: Amy Bradley in Alexandria
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A Maine woman made life less miserable for thousands of soldiers in Alexandria, VA.
Read MoreDecoration Day at Arlington Cemetery, 1868
/Three years after the Civil War ended, the Union veterans group, called the Grand Army of the Republic proposed May 30 as Decoration Day, a day to decorate the graves of military dead. A large observance took place at Arlington Cemetery.
1873 Ceremony at Arlington Cemetery. Stereograph in the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Collection.
Flowers, Prayers, Song
May 30, 1868, fell on a Saturday. Julia recorded the afternoon across four pages of her diary. Here are a few excepts.
In Washington that morning, Julia Wilbur joined a "Ladies Committee" to make wreaths, crosses, and bouquets out of flowers. True to form,
A basket full of flowers from the Ex. Mansion I made into bouquets & brought one away to decorate if opportunity offered some Colored Soldier’s grave.
With some friends, she rode in a carriage across the river, joining thousands of others. By the time they arrived,
It was 2 P.M. & Gen. Garfield had begun to speak from a platform extending from the Piazza. Here in front of the Platform were seats for a great many. Many drove up as near as possible & remained in their carriages & thousands stood or strolled around. The Piazza was decorated with flags, & badges of the different Corps. were suspended on a rope extending from the Flag staff to the roof of the Mansion
In addition to speeches, sad music, prayers, poetry, and a reading "Lincoln's address at Gettysburg, Nov. 1863," there were--
Seated in front were Gen. Grant & staff & gen. Long, & Gens. Howard & Hancock & Ekin & other invited guests, including 54 orphans of soldiers & sailors...
A procession led by the children strew flowers on graves.
Nothing happened to mar the solemnity & beauty of the scene. It was unlike anything I ever witnessed before. Many a tear fell on those graves. There was no unseemly noise or mirth in all that vast crowd, 5,000.
An Unofficial Remembrance
Yet (why should this be a surprise?), the official ceremony only passed by white soldiers' graves. Julia went to the what she said was the northeastern part of the property (now called Section 27) where U.S. Colored Troops lay:
The programme did not seem to apply to this portion of the Cemetery but I understood that a few persons white & colored had been there with flowers & a prayed been offered. I was not satisfied to leave without going there. We drove there & entered. The grass had not been cut, & it is very tall. A small part seemed to be allotted to colored soldiers & flags & flowers were on all these graves.Here I left a bouquet from the White House on the grave of an “Unknown” & a few others, separating it for this purpose. It seems a pity that a part of the Cem. must be detached from the rest.
Julia commemorated Decoration Day many more times, but the first time probably meant the most to her.
Nine Partners & a Neat Picture
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Julia Wilbur drew a picture of Nine Partners Boarding School, which she attended at age 14--and I recently got a look at it.
Read MoreThe Conspirators' Trial Began May 9, 1865
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The courtroom where Mary Surratt and 7 others were tried--then and now.
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