National Civil War Museum
| Collection size | 24,000 |
|---|---|
| Website | www |
The National Civil War Museum, located at One Lincoln Circle at Reservoir Park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is a permanent, nonprofit educational institution created to promote the preservation of material culture and sources of information that are directly relevant to the American Civil War of 1861–1865, and the aftermath period of the war as related to Civil War Veterans' service organizations, including the Grand Army of the Republic, United Confederate Veterans and the Daughters of the Confederacy to 1920. The museum also serves as the National Headquarters for the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), the legal successor to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). In 2009, the museum became affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Former Harrisburg Mayor Steve Reed, a Civil War enthusiast, was behind the museum's development, which cost 32 million dollars. It is now privately owned, and has an association with the Smithsonian Institution. Recently, the Museum published a book about the Union General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, one of many planned books the museum hopes to publish.
The museum is located in a two-story brick building in Harrisburg's Reservoir Park. The exhibits and self-guided tour begin on the second floor of the museum (first ten galleries) and continue on the first floor (last seven galleries and theater). A gift shop, temporary exhibit gallery, and museum support are on the first floor. A "Walk of Valor," consisting of red bricks bearing the names of Civil War veterans who have been honored by their surviving descendants, contributes to the museum's memorial-like grounds. It also shows pictures of the current president that was congratulating some of the honored veterans at a ceremony. The museum also serves as National Headquarters of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
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