museums

We were able to visit quite a few museums on our trip. The Virginia Quilt museum was nice, though it didn't quite live up to its billing of having exhibits covering the history of quilting. It did have two very nice and interesting exhibits, though. I did take some pictures of the upper floor exhibit so Bobby could see a few pieces (old houses don't have elevators), but nothing can be photographed and posted electronically due to copyright restrictions.

We visited two different civil war museums (both within a few miles of each other but on the same battleground area). One was a private collection from a man and covered a very wide time period (Indian artifacts, Civil War, WWI and WWII). The timeline was jumbled (you'd be reading a row of civil war info and suddenly be at a case of WWI), but the amount of items and the detailed information was overwhelming, incredible, and a historian's delight. Almost all of their information came from home firsthand sources. While it wasn't the best layout or design in presentation, it was probably one of the more informative museums I've been to. The second museum was part of the Virginia Military Institute. It was more modern, had up-to-date presentations (videos, lighting, less reading, more spacious displays). We also learned a lot here about the local impact of the war, and I got my exercise in walking through the farm where the battle took place that included VMI students and where the story for the "Field of Lost Shoes" took place. On a side note, I should add that the path is not strenuous, but we were pushed for time and determined to get it all in before closing so we were walking at a very fast pace.

On our last day of the trip we were able to fit in three more in Lexington: the chapel/museum of VMI, the chapel/museum of Washington Lee University, and the house of Stonewall Jackson. What we didn't realize before our arrival was the the campuses of Virginia Military Institute and Washington Lee University are adjoining. That helped us pack in a few extra things that day!

We were both impressed with the VMI chapel.

The eagle in the podium is actually a music/lecture stand that is placed inside the podium (the stage was empty).

the back balcony, as seen from the front.

The museum at VMI is located on the 2nd and 3rd floor under the chapel. The second contained what we went to see: the stuffed "Little Sorrel" (the horse of Stonewall Jackson). Bobby didn't think he looked all that great, but laughed that he didn't know what he expect from a horse that had been dead almost 150 years. I was most impressed with the layout and description of the barracks and how they had changed (and how little) over the years. 3rd floor was half a description of the ring ceremony (a ball held not long after cadets receive their class rings) complete with ball gowns worn by previous attendees, contributions (inventions, not money) from graduates, and a historical weapons display. I was amazed at the number of important international military personnel who had graduated from VMI.

And literally on the same street is the Lee chapel. Next to the big tree in the bottom right of the picture is the burial place of Traveller, Robert E Lee's horse. That was the second thing Bobby really wanted to see. I was amused by the number of people who came while we were there just to see that very thing. One man remembered coming as a boy with his father when they had Traveller's skeletal remains on display. I think his wife was pleased to see it was now buried with a marker. One of the guides talked about how the horse had a notice posted nearby when it was living (during the late 1890s) asking students to stop plucking the horse's tail hair (I learned that horse hair was used for a wide variety of things in those days) as Lee was not happy that his horse was looking like a "plucked chicken".  During Lee's tenure as president of the school, chapel was not mandatory, and it was non-denominational, despite his strict attendance at the Episcopal church. We were a bit saddened to learn that even though he considered spiritual development to be one of the most important things a student could learn, that within 10 years of his death chapel ceased to exist at the school. Today it is only used as a lecture hall and for weddings. No religious services are conducted there. On the flip side, a statue of him now lies in the addition over the crypt of his family behind the main stage. I can't imagine trying to hold a worship service with a statue of a person in repose behind the stage.

Stonewall Jackson's house was interesting and educational as well. Of the three African-American churches that formed in Lexington after the Civil War, one of them is still standing and has a stained-glass window dedicated to him. Turns out he thought slaves should be taught to read and write, and skirted the law prohibiting it by saying he was simply giving them the training they needed to be better slaves. Almost all of that congregation had learned to read because he held "slave Sunday school" for the community slaves, and taught them both the Bible and how to read and write. The first two slaves he owned he purchased at their request so they could work to earn their freedom (and they did), three came with his second wife, the fourth he purchased (a small child) and those four chose to stay with him/his wife after the war. There were a lot of other details I didn't know about. War stories make me sad and make me almost lean toward pacifism, but I it also makes me realize how little society has changed when it comes to ruling with our hearts only and not our heads mixed with some heart.