National Civil War Chaplains Museum

We are excited to finally present the newly redecorated exhibit, Miss Melanie’s Parlor, as part of our Service on the Homefront theme.

We’ve posted a few sneak peeks over the last few months, but now it is finally finished and you are invited to join us here live (or in person) as we stream the official unveiling of Miss Melanie’s Parlor. Sydney Cooper, an LU Interior Design major (now graduated) acquired a research grant from LU’s Center for Research and Scholarship which funded the project. She traveled to other sites and dug into the sources to learn more about 19th-century interiors and mourning practices. With the help of her faculty sponsor, Prof. Caitlyn Burnell (FACS), she installed wallpaper, floor treatment, window treatment, and other décor. The final piece, an 1860s settee restored by Sydney and Prof. Burnell, arrived in the museum this week. The settee, originally from the Chase-Lloyd House in Annapolis, Maryland, was gifted to the museum by Prof. Burnell.


We will post an Instagram live from the museum to introduce the exhibit at 2:00 pm on Friday, April 19. Feel free to join us in person or online for this exciting moment!

Miss Melanie’s Parlor is part of the Service on the Homefront exhibit, which features the ministry of chaplains when they are not deployed, especially their ministry to families of fallen service members. Chaplains have been tasked with conducting memorial services, care of remains, and support through the mourning process.


#civilwarhistory #interiordesign #makehistorylu #chaplains #mourning #restoration #museum #museums #historicinteriors

This week, we commemorate the 159th anniversary of the the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, which effectively ended the Civil War. General Ulysses S. Grant, alongside General George Meade and the Army of the Potomac, forced the unconditional surrender of General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865.

Delegates from the United States Christian Commission (USCC) were present for the battle and subsequent surrender. The USCC partnered with chaplains during the Civil War, helping them attend to the spiritual and physical needs of the Union troops. However, at Appomattox Courthouse they also provided their services to the recently defeated Confederate soldiers, including providing coffee to a group of soldiers from North Carolina.

Rev. Albert Ira Dutton, a USCC delegate, recorded his impressions of what he saw that week, including serving Grant’s troops. On April 8, Dutton wrote “There is now little doubt that Lee is about to surrender at least the Army he has here if not the whole Confederate Army. This is a day long to be remembered - The armies of the Union are completely triumphant.”

Dutton’s journal is featured in our Partners in Service exhibit where we tell stories of organizations who partnered with chaplains. The role of the YMCA in World War 1 is the most recent addition to this section of the museum. Visit the Chaplains Museum to learn more about U.S. military chaplains and those who partnered with them.

#appomattox #militarychaplains #religion #civilwar #civilwarhistory #thisdayinhistory #appomattoxcourthouse #chaplains #chaplainsmuseum

This morning at the Chaplains Museum, we hosted Dr. Chris Jones and his Civil War History class. The topic today was life in the camp with a specific focus on the revivals of the period. Dr. Jones also talked about the role of chaplains and their ministry to soldiers who suffered both physically and mentally from the effects of the war. Amidst chaos and destruction, over 3,300 chaplains labored to provide spiritual guidance and comfort as well as physical relief to the thousands of men who fought.

It was a pleasure to have the class meet in the room, “In the Service of the Gospel”, where we highlight the Civil War revivals as well as stories of the spiritual transformation of men and women who served in all of America’s wars.

#chaplainsmuseum #americancivilwar #chaplains #history #militaryhistory #chaplaincy #presentation

Announcing a new arrival at the Chaplains Museum! We now have our own coin.

Military challenge coins are iconic military symbols. Historically, these coins have been given to service members who went above and beyond the call of duty. More recently, coins like these have become a collector’s item and many current and former service members value them as mementos of special missions, events, and friendships. We are looking forward to gifting our coin to current and former military chaplains or chaplain assistants as well as those who have provided substantially for our collection.

Photos:
-Chaplains Museum coin, face and reverse sides.
-Chaplain (Dr.) Mark Jumper (USN Ret), Director of Chaplaincy & Military Affairs and Associate Professor at Regent University with his collection of challenge coins

#challengecoin #challengecoins #chaplain #militarychaplain #chaplainsmuseum

Since the end of World War II, chaplains have found their mission evolving unexpectedly: acting as diplomats and peacemakers with the local civilian population. At first, the chaplains’ role as peacemakers entailed providing humanitarian aid to local civilians. During the Korean War, chaplains worked with the Catholic church to establish orphanages. In Vietnam, they worked with the Navy to distribute food and medical supplies to civilians as part of Project Handclasp. In the Yugoslav Wars, Chaplains oversaw Operation Santa Claus, where candy and toys were paradropped to children in villages across Bosnia.
The chaplain’s role as peacemaker expanded with the various conflicts in the Middle East. In many Muslim countries, rumors abound that America is a godless country that will do everything in its power to suppress local religions and customs. The mere presence of a chaplain often dispels that myth, but for those individuals still suspicious of US servicemen in their communities, chaplains are frequently the only military personnel that civilians will willingly interact with. In many Muslim countries, the religious leaders often have more authority than the civic leaders. So, civilians in these countries view chaplains as not only more trustworthy but also more important than any other American in the area. Chaplain George Adams reported that one Shia cleric in Iraq insisted on speaking only to him instead of any other military or civilian personnel.
Having realized the importance of chaplains acting as peacemakers, the military has begun giving chaplains specialized training to act as Religious Leader Liaisons (RLLs). The military plans on further incorporating chaplains into its strategic doctrine to bring peace and stability to future combat zones.

1. Chaplain with Teddy Bear - https://nara.getarchive.net/media/a-us-army-chaplain-with-the-combined-joint-task-force-76-afghanistan-hands-b33e45

2. Chap. Steve Keith in Iraq

3. Chap. Steve Keith At Liberty University - https://www.liberty.edu/divinity/faculty/steve-keith/


#usmilitary #usarmy #usmarines #chaplain #chaplains #militarychaplains #armychaplains #marinechaplains #peace #islam #muslim #christian

Easter in Italy, April 9, 1944

A most unusual Easter service took place in Italy on April 9, 1944. Three U.S. Chaplains broadcast a sermon over loudspeakers to Americans in foxholes and their German counterparts across the battlefield. The broadcast was given in both English and German.

Lutheran Chaplain Oscar H. Reinboth opened the sermon. “Happy Easter. As an American chaplain I greet Protestants and Catholics of the German Army... Should not all Christendom be jubilant on this day? Should not all people rejoice—now that Christ died and rose again for all men—for Germans and Americans alike—therefore I wish you also today in the name of my soldiers a happy Easter.”

Following Reinboth’s greeting, Chaplain Earl Hayes explained the Easter story and a Catholic service followed, given by Catholic Chaplain Leo J. Crowley. Father Crowley’s altar, made of two five-gallon cans with a tarp spread over them, was situated on Hill 411 at the top of a ledge overlooking the valley where soldiers from across the United States knelt. Other American soldiers waited alert for a possible German attack, but during the two-hour service not a single artillery shell fell in the sector.

The ministry of these men demonstrates the primary responsibility of all U.S. military chaplains: the care of souls. And in this instance, they cared not only for the souls of their own troops, but for all. At the Chaplains Museum, we are committed to telling the stories of the men and women who dedicate their lives to this ministry.

We wish a blessed Easter for all U.S. military chaplains and the service members under their care, at home and around the world.

#Easter #chaplains #militarychaplains #WW2

Images:
Article from New York Times, 10 April 1944
Photo of Easter Mass with Father Crowley from National World War II Museum https://www.nww2m.com/2014/04/easter-1944/
Photo of Chaplain Reinboth from https://thechaplainkit.com/2017/04/16/easter-in-uniform/

On this date 80 years ago, March 29, 1944, a task force consisting of two US Navy destroyers and the Royal Navy destroyers spotted and engaged the German submarine U-223 three days after she departed Toulon, France. The five ships worked together through the night to sink the submarine. Sinking a German submarine was not an unusual event, but this one was especially significant. The U-223 sailed with the Nordsturm wolfpack in early February 1943 when, while attacking convoy SG-19 on February 3, she torpedoed and sank the SS Dorchester, the troop transport carrying on which the “Four Chaplains” perished.

Interestingly, three of the survivors from the German submarine later participated in the establishment of the Immortal Chaplain’s Foundation in 1997, an organization that currently maintains the Immortal Chaplains Memorial Sanctuary aboard the museum ship Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Read more about the Four Chaplains in our post from February 2023. Or visit the Chaplains Museum to see their story in the context of chaplains’ Service on the Battlefield.

Images: Destroyers who engaged the German submarine U-223: USS Ericsson and USS Kearny Memorial on board the Queen Mary Photos courtesy NHHC https://www.history.navy.mil/

#chaplains #fourchaplains #immortalchaplains #ww2 #museum #chaplainsmuseum