I recently finished viewing a book about medical treatment of wounds during the Civil War called Photographic Atlas of Civil War Injuries by Bradley P. Bengtson. It was fascinating! It's hard to believe some of these men survived the wounds they received. Treatments were still primitive for many different types of wounds. However, there were images of a man who received plastic surgery because the lower half of his jaw and chin were destroyed by a minie ball.
The Civil War 150th Anniversary Commemoration reminds us that Platte County was right in the heart of the war. The war was not just from 1860 to 1865, the debate over slavery started much earlier here.
Much of this area was settled originally by citizens from Kentucky and Tennessee. They brought with them their traditions of farming tobacco and hemp, as well as other farm products. With the labor intensive tobacco and hemp crops, the farmers brought their slaves to work the farms.
Let's Talk About It! Making Sense of the American Civil War
Coming up on Sunday, March 4th at 2:00 p.m. at the Midwest Genealogy Center is Imagining War, the first conversation we’ll have in an attempt to make sense of one of the defining wars in our nation’s history. Altogether, there will be five discussions on different themes designed to help us explore different facets of the Civil War experience. The entire series has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.
On August 16, 1862, the Battle of Lone Jack was fought. For years, the Lone Jack Branch has fielded questions about this battle. That posed a problem for the library staff. In spite of the fact that it was a somewhat significant battle, and Harry Truman was instrumental in the creation of the Lone Jack Battlefield Museum, not much had been written about the battle.
If you are interested in a first-hand viewpoint of the Civil War, then these volumes will thrill you! Mary Chesnut’s Illustrated Diary, a boxed set edited and researched by Martha M. Daniels and Barbara E. McCarthy, is a compilation of personal diary entries by Mrs. Mary Chesnut collected throughout the Civil War. The collection has been called one of the most important works to come out of that time.
Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War
In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War and, in particular, the anniversary of the First Battle of Independence fought on the Independence Square on August 11, 1862, the following events are being held throughout Independence from now through the end of the year. Join the community in remembrance of the historic battles fought and the lives that were forever affected:
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg. This battle marks the bloodiest single day of the entire Civil War; around 26,000 soldiers were killed or wounded. This was one of the first battlefields of the Civil War to be photographed, and civilians were shocked and saddened to see those horrific images from the day's events.
I did not realize, before I began working at the Library, that the Library was such a richly, layered place. I knew about checking out books and the wonderful storytimes for children. I had no idea what lay beneath the surface. One of the layers that really impressed me was the variety of programs that were offered to the public. I had no idea. I had only attended one or two programs at my local branch, and both of those were very informative and helpful. They did not lead me to the real scope of programs that are available.
What image comes to mind when you think of Santa Claus? Chances are good that it is very similar to the ones brought to life by Thomas Nast, best known as a nineteenth century political cartoonist. He has also been credited with creating the image of Santa we know today.
