Slave exhibits stir old passions at Civil War museum (VA)
Richmond, Virginia, whose statue-lined Monument Avenue has glorified Confederate heroes for a century, is making room for new voices to tell the story of the Civil War.
The American Civil War Center, which opened in the one-time capital of the Confederacy in October, is the first museum in the U.S. to discuss the history of the war from the perspectives of three sides -- the North, the South and the slaves.
A century and a half after the fighting ended, the museum isn't settling old arguments about the war, which took more American lives than any other conflict.
``The hope has been to try to educate everybody away from whatever prejudices or ill-informed biases they had,'' said James McPherson, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for his 1988 book, ``Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War Era,'' who was an adviser on the museum.
Some black residents say the museum, founded by the Tredegar National Civil War Center Foundation, doesn't go far enough to shed light on the past.
``This presentation simply serves to sanitize the Confederacy and to glorify false heroes,'' said Raymond Boone, publisher of the Richmond Free Press, the city's leading newspaper aimed at a black readership. ``If we were going to have balance in a World War II museum, would you give Hitler the same weight as Roosevelt?''
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The American Civil War Center, which opened in the one-time capital of the Confederacy in October, is the first museum in the U.S. to discuss the history of the war from the perspectives of three sides -- the North, the South and the slaves.
A century and a half after the fighting ended, the museum isn't settling old arguments about the war, which took more American lives than any other conflict.
``The hope has been to try to educate everybody away from whatever prejudices or ill-informed biases they had,'' said James McPherson, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for his 1988 book, ``Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War Era,'' who was an adviser on the museum.
Some black residents say the museum, founded by the Tredegar National Civil War Center Foundation, doesn't go far enough to shed light on the past.
``This presentation simply serves to sanitize the Confederacy and to glorify false heroes,'' said Raymond Boone, publisher of the Richmond Free Press, the city's leading newspaper aimed at a black readership. ``If we were going to have balance in a World War II museum, would you give Hitler the same weight as Roosevelt?''