Exhibits

 

CURRENT EXHIBITS

Memorial Hall is always trying to create new exhibits to keep visitors stimulated and returning. However, have no fear. There are several high demand displays, such as the Jefferson Davis Collection, the Louisiana Generals exhibits as well as the popular artillery, infantry and cavalry displays , which are all permanent mainstays. On occasion, the museum will accept traveling exhibits from associated institutions and loan artifacts to other American Association of Museums accredited museums. And, thanks to the generosity of private collectors who want to share their collections with the public, there are always several temporary displays. Therefore, when viewing artifacts or images on this web site or at the museum, please be advised that not all exhibited relics are from the collection of Memorial Hall. The following exhibits are currently on display at Memorial Hall:

New Orleans Photography

This display describes, through artifacts, the evolution of photography and includes rare images of Matthew Brady, James Gardner, and Timothy O’Sullivan. Jules Lion, a free man of color, first introduced photography to New Orleans in 1844. A rare lithograph and attributed daguerreotype by Lion are displayed. Numerous New Orleans-made images fill the display with examples of daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes and cdvs, including some of flooded New Orleans in 1865.

 

Medicine in the Confederacy –
Fighting the Real Enemy

The most feared enemy of the Confederate soldier was not dressed in blue. It lurked in the shadows of camp life and the gun flashes of the battlefield. Diseases and gunshot wounds took the lives of more Confederate soldiers than all Confederate battlefield fatalities combined. This exhibit displays rare implements used by the Confederate Medical Corps of the Civil War, including artifacts of:

• Dr. E. S. Drew, surgeon of the Washington Artillery. Drew was present during all of the marches and battles of companies 1-4. He was called “Drugs” by the boys of the battalion and was noted as an “experienced sawbones” by Lt. Col. William Miller Owen.

• Dr. S. E. Chaille, Confederate surgeon who headed the Confederate Okmulgee Hospital in Macon, Georgia and after the war pronounced Jefferson Davis dead. He became Dean of Tulane University.

• Dr. J. Julian Chisolm, CSA invented the Chisolm inhaler, a chloroform inhaler which provided anesthesia while conserving the valuable commodity. He was also the author of Confederate Surgeon’s Manual and pioneered the use of inhalant anesthesia during the Civil War.

• Amputation kit and image of Dr. Bretchel of New Orleans, who served on that city’s advisory medical board.

• Assorted medical instruments, uniforms, flags, ambulance banners, etc.

 

Jefferson Davis Family

Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, died in New Orleans in 1889. His body was interred at Metairie Cemetery near New Orleans for four years until it was moved to its present location at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. Prior to burial, Davis laid in state at Memorial Hall for one and a half days, and more than 60,000 people came to pay their respects. The stage where his body lay is now a place of reverence and a shrine to Jefferson Davis and his family. Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson, donated many of her family's belongings and momentos to Memorial Hall stating, "My heart is in the New Orleans Memorial Hall. There I feel I owe my most affectionate gratitude, and to this place I sent my dearest relics."

The Jefferson Davis stage includes Jefferson Davis' evening clothes, top hat, cane, saddle, bible, and a crown of thorns given to him by Pope Pius IX. It also houses the Mardi Gras jewels and dress of his daughter, Winnie. Winnie was often referred to as the "Daughter of the Confederacy," as she was born during the Civil War. She was a frequent visitor to New Orleans and reigned as Queen of Comus, a prominent Mardi Gras organization, in 1892.

Secession of Louisiana from the Union

Louisiana was the sixth state to secede from the Union, but it did not take such drastic action without careful consideration. New Orleans was the state's and the South's largest and richest city and served as an international port. The city had hoped to remain neutral in the event of a Civil War. However, when Louisianans elected Southern rights' proponent Thomas O. Moore governor, and the nation elected "liberal" presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln president of the United States in 1860, Louisiana abandoned all hopes of neutrality. On display are several artifacts from that era of secession. These include a Louisiana secession badge, an original copy of the Louisiana Ordinance of Secession, a rare original Louisiana secession flag, photographs of patriotic soldiers and citizens, and uniforms and accoutrements used by militia soldiers at the outbreak of the conflict.

Louisiana Native Guard

Antebellum New Orleans possessed a unique population of well-educated free black people of European descent called "free people of color". Many of these free people of color were Creole skilled artisans and professionals. By January 8, 1862, this free black community had enough pride and willing men to form a regiment of Confederate soldiers called the Native Guard. Although denied the ability to fight in combat, these men were used to defend the various entrenchments around the city. When the Crescent City fell into Union hands in April 1862, many of these soldiers chose to reorganize and volunteer for the Union. At the battle of Port Hudson, Union Native Guard soldiers from New Orleans were the first black troops to see major battle action in the Civil War.

The Louisiana Native Guard display reflects on a long overlooked aspect of the Civil War showing rare photographs of black Confederates, black "contrabands" of war, their Union commanders at Port Hudson and an identified Native Guard canteen.

Union Gen. Benjamin "Beast" Butler

Abraham Lincoln's first politically appointed general, Benjamin Franklin Butler, was sent to New Orleans to oversee the Union occupation of the city. For the next eight months he ruled the city with such an iron hand that he became its most infamous and hated citizen. General Orders #1 (Martial Law) and #28 (the infamous Woman Order), the hanging of the Southern patriot William Mumford, who had torn down the US flag, the imprisonment of numerous uncooperative citizens and the pilfering of the city's assets helped create the legend of "The Beast."

This exhibit displays a segment of the U.S. flag torn down by Mumford, a set of silver spoons stolen by Butler, political cartoons of Butler and a rare lithograph of "Fleurs du Sud" (Flowers of the South). This artwork of an arrangement of strategically positioned flowers in the likeness of the Confederate First National flag was an attempt by New Orleanians to covertly display their patriotism within their Federally occupied city.