By Bonnie & Bill Neely
We have normally been in a hurry to make our way across from Texas to South Carolina, but on our trip recently we made a point to search for other points of interest in Vicksburg besides those near the Mississippi River bridge, which we have enjoyed many times. We wanted to see more of the old historic area, so we went to the Vicksburg Civil War Museum at 1123 Washington Street. This quaint historic street was charming, seemingly as it has been for nearly a century and a half. Many of the buildings have been maintained to keep their original appearance, and we could see the faint painted ads on the buildings’ brick sides. Washington Street parallels the great Mississippi River, and we could see down along the shore the beautiful murals portraying the mighty river’s history and traffic. Of course, many casinos are along the river where hotels and gambling and good restaurants attract many residents and tourists.
At the Civil War Museum entrance, we saw many interesting flags and posters, but we did not see the familiar Civil War flag of red background and blue X. That really made us curious. As we entered we were greeted by Charles Pendleton, a very friendly and attractive young man who, we learned, is the creator of the museum. He has always been a history buff and a collector of Civil War items, which he purchased from various garage and antique sales. Some of the items had been donated by families searching for the right place to honor sacred items from their family history. Charles instructed us, and all visitors to read his beautifully framed Mission Statement before we could go farther into the museum:
“Our goal is NOT to EDUCATE YOU. Our aim is to INSPIRE YOU to want TO BECOME MORE EDUCATED. We will achieve this mission by challenging fundamental inaccuracies of our interpretations of history versus factual history…Your correct or incorrect understanding of history does not change history…”
The Vicksburg Civil War Museum was founded to preserve history.
Our cornerstone rests upon the words of the Declaration of Independence:
”…that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
We were emotionally touched by this impressive statement of intent and were glad he made this part of the permit of admission. We asked if he had researched his own ancestry to learn if his family of several generations back had been slaves, but he said he had no knowledge of his ancestors. With his broad, welcoming smile he waved his arm for us to begin the self-guided tour.
The Confederate uniform with its insignia was the first historic display we encountered, and one room to the side was filled with various uniforms, badges, officers’ pins and bars and countless items of battle. Items of the Confederate soldiers are grouped: the canon, pistols, and rifles were displayed with care, and in great numbers, along with bullets and ammunition. Buttons and coins were also displayed with Confederate bills, certificates and letters and stamps. Other items of war of the 1860’s included cookware, tents, boots, and replicas of typical food of soldiers. Photos and drawings around the walls showed the hard life of soldiers and surprisingly the women who stayed in camp to help with cooking, laundry, nursing, and caring companionship.
Next to the arrays of Confederate memorabilia was an equally important Union Army section of the museum with uniforms and personal items displayed. With these were plaques and paintings showing both sides of the battle. Honored quotes from officers of both armies of the Battle of Vicksburg are framed along the walls. Both sides of this conflict were contrasted against each other by allowing for an objective view of the two opposing armies. It was impressive how much information and detail were shown in this unique museum about this Major Event of USA history
To us, the most significant part of the museum was only a small area but deeply impressive, touching our hearts with sadness. While a video played of what the Old South had been like to those who labored daily on plantations, who had been sold in the slave markets and mistreated at the hand of cruel owners, we were able to sit and just observe the replica of a cotton field, which had actual soil and real bolls of white cotton still on their original, but dried, bushes. A manikin slave stood with a bag ready to pick the balls of cotton. This scene was beside a very small, but typical, life-sized slave cabin. We could peer into the dark interior, since there was no illumination but candles in those days, to see the sparse furnishings of a bed, table, fireplace, and chair. On the front porch a worn-looking female slave manikin sits with a small child beside her as they appear to shell peas. The entire scene is so real and so moving, I was almost in tears.
Many other scenes and collections are so neatly arranged and displayed in the museum. It seems impossible that one young man with his own funds collected these items and created this lovely museum with so much history so well explained. Several re-enactment documentary videos made the Civil War and Battle of Vicksburg very real to all museum visitors. This museum is a MUST for anytime you go to Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Be sure to visit the Coca-Cola Museum next door, where you can enjoy ice cream and homemade candies and learn the history of Coca-Cola and purchase souvenirs. This historic building was the Biedenharn Candy Company since mid 1800’s, where the Biedenharn family made delicious candies. The eldest son Joseph in 1894 followed his unique idea and his family got the franchise to begin the first bottling of the already popular soda fountain drink,
Coca-Cola. They bottled the beverage right in this building, which now displays the fascinating original equipment. They began sending the bottled drink to neighboring areas around Vicksburg. This was the beginning of the extended numbers of Coca-Cola bottlers network which send the drink around the world to this day!
We found the museum to be a happy, nostalgic walk through Memory Lane as we saw the familiar ads and bottles and items promoting the familiar script name and even the beloved Santa Claus enjoying his Coke. This small museum is not to be missed, as it may be your Happy Place, as we found it to be ours!
NOTE: We hope you will also order our travel book: Real Ventures: Did We Really Do That?!! by Bonnie Burgess Neely. With five stars everywhere online (AmazonBooks; Barnes&Noble; Google; ITunes and wherever books are sold) our true travel stories will give you MANY LAUGHS and some GASPS of things that happened to us as we drove mileage equivalent to 3 trips to the moon or around the earth’s equator 25 times, taking in 9 countries including all over the USA, Canada, and Central America. Give yourself and loved ones this gift of fun leisure time reading!
IF YOU GO:
https://biedenharncoca-colamuseum.com
https://www.vicksburgcivilwarmuseum.org/
Real Travel Adventures 