The House Divided currently offers an intriguing exhibit on Henry “Box” Brown and his incredible journey to freedom. The exhibit compliles images depicting his trek, a map of his path, and a three-dimensional Sketch Up of the box in which he traveled. Also, a brief yet informative descritption accompanies each image, bringing the story to life. This section is perfect for those interested in obtaining insight into the dangers involved in a slave’s struggle for freedom. The exhibit also helps transplant viewers into the plight of slaves through displaying the awful conditions that Brown was willing to endure in order to escape bondage. Additionally, if you enjoy this exhbit you should be sure to check out our Henry “Box” Brown Google Earth Tour.

Of the many differences between America today and America during the House Divided era is the relationships between politicians and persons of a more controversial quality. 150 years ago, politicians associated and communicated with persons whose national stature would make such contact disastrious today. For example is a letter written by the infamous John Brown to Massachusetts Congressman Eli Thayer. In the letter, Brown asks Thayer, a Republican and adamant free-soiler, “to have Mr. ALLEN & Co. send me by express one or two navy-sized revolvers as soon as may be.” Putting aside the fact that Brown speaks of shipping weapons very casualy, it is both interesting and astonishing that a U.S. Congressman was so openly conspiraring with a notorious figure like Brown. It is not something likely to happen today.

From late June to early July of 1864, a fierce battle raged between Johnston and Sherman’s armies.  This battle was fought around quiet Kennesaw Mountain. Last February, the National Park Service gained a key piece of land on which this battle was raged.  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution informed readers that Sam Hensley recently sold 35 of his 70 acres to the Trust for Public Land.  In turn, the National Park Service gained this valuable land.  Hensley had moved onto the land in 1957 and quietly expanded his private property.  After the death of his wife in 2003, Hensley decided that he wanted to be sure that the land was preserved after his death.  Therefore, he sold his land for $3.5 million, nowhere near the estimated commercial value of the property.  Luckily, the National Park Service won in the endless battle to preserve our nation’s past.

Civil War Traveler offers audio tours given by National Park Service historians.  These tours can be accessed directly through the site or via a free subscription in iTunes.  Each podcast episode follows a historian as he walks along a famous Civil War battlefield or location such as Antietam or the Appomattox Court House.  Since they record each episode live at the battlefield as the historian walks the site, you can download these audio files to a portable music device and use them as your own personal guide at each historic site.  The website also has downloadable maps of each historic location in pdf form to help you stay in sync with your guide.  This site would be great for bolstering field trips or for teachers who enjoy using their imagination.  Students can listen to the tour and follow the guide’s route on the map for a rather engaging experience.

USA Today reported yesterday that two new markers for the Civil War Trail were placed at Andrew Jackson’s homstead, The Hermitage, and a near by Confederate Soldier’s Home.  The Hermitage is linked to the Soldier’s Home because Jackson’s former homestead offered land for the use of the home, which operated until 1933.  These two markers are part of the larger Civil War Trail, which is dedicated to showing different state’s involvement and importance during the Civil War.  These markers are just two of dozens that are in the works for an extended Trail, which will cross not just Tennesse, but Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, as well.  This certainly is an exciting time for Civil War buffs who are looking forward to the sesquicentennial of the war.

On May 28, National Public Radio informed readers of a recent acquisition by the National Archives of a letter written by Lincoln to Secretary of Treasury, Salmon P. Chase.  The letter was donated by Lawrence Cutler, a private collector, who waited until Lincoln’s bicentennial.  Lincoln’s brief note, written just five days before his famous address at Gettysbug, in November of 1863, is Lincoln’s request for Chase to allow the former head of the U. S. Mint of Sacremento, Robert Stevens, access to evidence to why he was fired.  “Experts said Lincoln’s letter to Chase demonstrates the president’s fairness,” explains NPR reporter Deborah Tedford.  This letter adds one more piece of the puzzle in understanding Abraham Lincoln.

Susan Montoya Bryan of the Associated Press informed readers of the Dallas Morning News this morning about the opening of the Glorietta Battlefield Trail, which traces the Battlefield of Glorietta Pass, the “Gettysburg of the west.”  The battle occurred in late March of 1862 and resulting in stopping an attempt of Confederate troops to move West towards Santa Fe and California, and thus trying to extend the Confederacy.  Had the Confederates succeeded in this attempt, they would have changed the whole course of the war.

Finally, the National Park Service has made the battlefield available once again for safe public visitation, after years of acquiring the land needed to preserve the battlefield.  This is one of many fights that the National Park Service and many other organizations, such as the Civil War Preservation Trust, have fought to preserve the precious history of our nation.

The Southeast Archeological Center (SEAC), sponsored by the National Park Service, underwent an exacavation at Shiloh National Historic Park and in Corinth, Mississippi.  By using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and Systematic Metal Detecting, the team was able to uncover new ways to understand the battles that happened in Tennessee and Mississippi.  By using such technologies as GPR, these archaeologists could understand how the ground looked for the men fighting for it.  Although this excavation happened in 1999, it shows how new technologies can advance our understanding of old battles.  Ten years later, we can use our ever more advanced technologies, such as Geographic Information System (GIS), to strip away the past and look at it in a whole new light.

In 2008 historian Michael Burlingame published Abraham Lincoln: A Life, an exhaustive and well researched biography of our sixteenth president. The huge, two volume work (the entirety of which weighs around 9 pounds) went through serious editing before it was ready to publish. Wanting all of his extensive research to be used by scholars and students, Burlingame, along with Knox College’s Lincoln Studies Center, has made the author’s original, unedited manuscript available online. Currently only volume one is available with the second on its way. This excellent work, completely free, will surely be a useful tool for any who wish to study Lincoln and the Civil War era.

As one who feels Confederate Army General James Longstreet often receives the short end of the the stick when it comes to historical recognition, I was thrilled to find an organization dedicated to revamping history’s memory of Longstreet.  The General Longstreet Recognition Project created a website that lists projects and events that are planned with the intention of increasing the general public’s knowledge of this defensive mastermind.  The site also offers information about membership within the project and houses a link at the bottom of the page that allows visitors to contribute financially to the venture.  This site provides Longstreet fans the opportunity to elevate his memory to the standing it deserves.