Throughout the month of October, two exhibits at Minnetrista peer into the past, taking a look at two sides of the Civil War. One focuses on the image of the 16th president and the other on the heartfelt letters from soldiers.
THE LITTLE-KNOWN LINCOLN
The greatest among the nation's presidents. A daring abolitionist. The tall, gangly man with the dark beard and black top hat is one of the most prominent images of U.S. history, and from now until Oct. 28 at Minnetrista, Abraham Lincoln can be viewed at every angle.
Original lithographs, paintings, buttons, ribbons, songbooks and cartoons from the mid-1800s are all a part of The Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, provided by the Lincoln Historical Research Foundation. The artifacts on display are only a portion of the 300 Lincoln-signed documents, 18,000 books, 7,000 prints, 5,000 photographs and period artifacts and Lincoln family possessions that are split between the Indiana State Museum and the Allen County Public Library.
The exhibit, titled "Abraham Lincoln: The Image," shows how photography helped to shape Lincoln's presidential image. It is split into three parts: Developing the Image, Creating the Image and Idealizing the Image.
There are the traditional, somber portraits that are usual of Lincoln, but then there are several more odd pictorials of the president that would not show up in a textbook that give a new view of Honest Abe.
The first of the mass-produced portraits is of Lincoln in an 1860 portrait done for the Republican Convention that suggests actor Robert Pattinson got his hair inspiration from the president. Lincoln's thick hair is wild and undone, unlike the kept image audiences are used to seeing. Between each original image is a written history lesson. The chronological journey gives a walk-through history lesson of Lincoln's life, presidency and death.
Several portrayals are from period-era political cartoonists. In one, a forlorn Lincoln rides a log that reads "Republican Platform," as his speech bubble laments, "It's the hardest stick I ever straddled."
One particularly goofy character is displayed in 1860 lithograph, "Honest Abe Taking Them on the Half-Shell." The wild, smirking actor Jack Nicholson-esque Lincoln stands poised to eat two terrified politicians slumped over in oyster shells.
The exhibit stresses each image is meant to mean something and has symbolic value. The more serious portraits include Lincoln as "the Great Emancipator." Other lithographs put Lincoln in pointed slippers and a jester's costume. The exhibit gives insider facts, such as faux-drawn beards on the president and the fake "Bible" depicted in Lincoln's hands that was actually the photography studio sample album.
Even after Lincoln's assassination, the odd depictions rivaled the stoic portraits of the deceased president. One 1865 lithograph reads "Washington and Lincoln: The Father and Savior of Our Country" in which Washington is going in for a high five as the two men shake hands. Other similar depictions include a baseball card image of what appears to be Lincoln and Washington cuddling.
BATTLEFIELD LETTERS
"Away From Home: Civil War Letters" is a journey from the Civil War-era home into the battleground and through the general's tent with an interactive touch. Visitors are free to write in weathered journals that are placed on various desks lit by kerosene lamps. Overhead motion detectors play a marching tune or a dramatic reading on cue during different phases of the display.
Brassy uniforms, a hulking cannon and rusted guns and sabers give a window into the difficult and sometimes gruesome life the soldiers endured during the war. One noted artifact, the surgical amputation kit, resides in a mock medical tent along with the account of an arm amputation. Visitors can feel the soft grass under their feet in the military camp area and march under the shade of an indoor forest canopy.
However, the exhibit also gives a more intimate view of the war that goes beyond the marching trail.
"The exhibit features the home-side of the Civil War - who was waiting back at home," said Lori Nierzwick, a senior acting major.
Nierzwick is the Minnetrista theatre specialist and in a one-person play for the exhibit. Countless letters from Muncie men are posted throughout the display, writing of wartime hardships or heartaches for their wives and children. Bringing together a combination of the letters, Nierzwick performs a monologue of a soldier's wife raising a baby on her own while her husband is on the battlefield. Nierzwick got her inspiration from a modern army wife, the spouse of a co-worker that is on duty.
"This play is based on a woman 150 years ago," Nierzwick said. "But it's still something that's happening today. In the play, the woman mentions that she has no idea where her husband is. The military wife that I'm talking to goes for two weeks not knowing what's going on with her husband or where he is."
"Abraham Lincoln: The Image"
"Away from Home: Civil War Letters"
When: today through Oct. 28
9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday
11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Minnetrista
Cost: Free for members and children younger than 3, $5 for non-members
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