Camden Library and Cleveland County Library To Display Civil War Sesquicentennial Photography Exhibit in August

RALEIGH – Determination, commitment and pride are among many characteristics of North Carolinians depicted in the“Freedom, Sacrifice, Memory: Civil War Sesquicentennial Photography Exhibit” (www.nccivilwar150.com). The exhibit commemorates North Carolina’s role in the Civil War (1861-1865). It will visit the Pasquotank-Camden Library in Elizabeth City and the Cleveland County Library in Shelby on simultaneous routes in August.

At the Pasquotank-Camden Library the traveling exhibit is on display Aug. 5-29. A “Tea Social” on Aug. 5 at 2:30 p.m. will launch the exhibit opening and also a reading series, “Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War.” Visitors can meet North Carolina Humanities Scholar Dr. Hillary Green, browse the exhibit and meet re-enactors Frank Parrish and Mark Maland, who will portray Generals Lee and Grant, respectively, in a dramatic reading narrated by Tom Cherry.

In Cleveland County the statewide commemorative exhibit is open Aug. 1-29.

“The Civil War was the first war widely covered with photography,” explains Deputy Secretary Dr. Jeffrey Crow of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. “The ‘Freedom, Sacrifice, Memory’ exhibit provides images of historic figures, artifacts, and documents that brought the reality of the war from the battlefront to the home front, then and now.”

Images gathered from the State Archives (www.archives.ncdcr.gov), the N.C. Museum of History (www.ncmuseumofhistory.org), and State Historic Sites (www.nchistoricsites.org) will illustrate valiant members of the Confederacy, African Americans fighting for freedom, and daring women dedicated to the South. A total of 24 images will be exhibited by the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources (www.ncdcr.gov) in 50 libraries and four museums throughout the state from April 2011 to May 2013. A notebook will accompany the exhibit with further information and seeking viewer comments.

Amidst the photos will be a picture portraying the battle at Fort Fisher, “Parapet Position,” which shows a re-enactment of Union soldiers advancing over the fort parapets in the march to cut off the supply lines to the Confederate Army before capturing Wilmington; and an image of a “Mourning Ring,” a popular adornment worn by Southern women to show support for loved ones fighting in the war.

For information on the exhibit call the libraries at 252-335-2473 (Elizabeth City) or 704-487-9069 (Shelby). For information on the tour visitwww.nccivilwar150.com or call (919) 807-7389.