Today was our class trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It had been a while since I took a step into the museum which was probably my freshman year in high school. There was also a class assignment that was required and had to be handed in at the end of the day before leaving. I digress but the museum didn’t appear to change much since my last visit but more exhibits and galleries such as the Civil War Photography gallery were added since.
The gallery showed images of both white and black people during the Civil War and what they endured. The most violent and graphic image I saw in the gallery had to have been “A Harvest of Death,” Gettysburg July 1863 (Artifact 1). The image showed a field of bodies and gave everyone a glimpse as to why more people died in the Civil War than any other war. Medical images showed malnutrition and bullet wounds to various body parts.
The only artifact I could find which portrayed slavery and the brutality if you tried to run away was Gordan, A Runaway Mississippi Slaver, or “The Scourged Back” (Artifact 2). The image showed a black man’s back which was heavily scared. Reading and hearing about punishments is one thing but seeing it is much more impressionable and leaves a “scar” in your image of slavery.
The gallery showed various images of President Abraham Lincoln and his numerous visits to the field to show his support to the army. Further in the gallery, there is section devoted to his assassination and the pursue of his killer and accomplices. “Broadside for the Capture of John Wilkes Booth, John Surratt, and David Herald,” April 20, 1865 (Artifact 3) was a gigantic wanted poster for the aid and capture of the 3 suspects in their direct or indirect murder of President Lincoln.
I enjoyed the visit to the museum however; I wished we could’ve seen a much larger gallery with less constraints. The gallery was dimly lighted which made it somewhat difficult to view some of the small prints.
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