8/12/2005

Civil War bits and pieces

It's good to know that when I have a need to see them, parts of the spines of James Garfield and John Wilkes Booth have been preserved as museum exhibits. The National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington has a Civil War collection which these are part of.
"We preserve a very specialized version of American history," said Michael Rhode, chief archivist. The museum is a gold mine for Civil War buffs. The Civil War exhibit greets visitors entering a 35,000-square-foot viewing area. It includes a lock of hair and skull fragments from Abraham Lincoln and the leg bone of Civil War Gen. Daniel Sickles lost at Gettysburg. [...] "The popular artifacts are a way to hook people and bring them in the door," said public affairs officer Steven Solomon.
Lest we forget.

p.s. An email arrived since this was posted: "This warrants further investigation. After all, Grant said:'Garfield has shown that he is not possessed of the backbone of an angleworm.'"