National Museum of Civil War Medicine Reopens Oct. 21 in Maryland
FREDERICK, MD.

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine's newly renovated building will opening in October in the heart of downtown Frederick. The official ribbon cutting is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 21, at 10 a.m.

The National Museum is the only known museum in the nation devoted exclusively to the study and interpretation of Civil War medicine. It tells the story of care and healing, courage and devotion amidst the death and destruction of war.

It is also a story of major advances that changed medicine. Through the dedication, innovation and devotion of Civil War surgeons and medical support staff on both sides of the conflict, the foundation for today's modern military medicine was laid. Their tenacity and compassion to heal stemmed a death rate that could have easily been twice the 620,000.

The museum building at 48 East Patrick St. has been undergoing a $2 million renovation. Funding for the improvements came from the State of Maryland and the Judge Edward S. Delaplaine Charitable Trust of Frederick, each supplying $1 million. The state also contributed $750,000 to-ward the design and construction of the new exhibits.

When construction is completed this month the museum will have nearly 7,000 square feet of exhibit space on two floors, featuring five immersion exhibits that bring the visitor into the setting and illustrate different aspects of Civil War medicine by minimizing physical barriers that usually separate visitors from exhibits.

The renovated museum will also have an expanded Museum Store, a research library, administrative offices and a large meeting and conference room that will be available for group bookings.

The first immersion exhibit the visitor will encounter will be Camp Life, portraying a typical camp scene at morning sick call, complete with the only known surviving Civil War surgeon's tent. The second immersion scene will be Medical Evacuation, highlighting the methods used to remove wounded men from the battlefield. Featured objects will include Union and Confederate stretchers and items pertaining to veterinary medicine.

At a Field Dressing Station, the wounded soldier received his first medical care. A series of field medical cases will be part of this display. The fourth immersion exhibit will be a Field Hospital, showing a surgical scene reminiscent of the one in the German bank barn used by the Union Second Corps after the battle of Gettysburg. Authentic surgical kits and medical supply chests will be part of the exhibit.

The fifth immersion scene will be a Pavilion Hospital, a recreation of a ward in a large General Hospital, usually the last stop for a wounded soldier on the road to recovery. This display will feature a surviving Union hospital garrison flag and will include information on nurses, hospital stewards and civilian relief associations.

The museum will also have exhibits on medical education, recruiting, dentistry, naval medicine, pharmaceuticals, and herbal remedies. There will also be space for temporary exhibits.

Frederick is within a 30-minute drive to Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry, Antietam, South Mountain and Monocacy. Because of this proximity, Frederick became a major hospital center during the Civil War.

Twenty-eight sites in the city were taken over as hospitals after the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, and numerous private homes were used for injured military officers.

One Civil War hospital site is directly across the street from the museum on East Patrick Street. The museum building itself was a furniture shop and undertaking establishment during the war, and was used as a station to embalm the dead after the battles of South Mountain and Antietam.

The museum temporary location facilities at 100 Adventist Dr. will close on Sept. 5 so preparations can start for the move back downtown.

As part of the reopening celebration the museum will host "Confederate Hospital Steward and Southern Caregiver," by historians Glenn and Gloria Baugher on Oct. 21 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The following weekend, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday historian James W. Lowry will give a program on "The Battlefield Embalmer: Preserving the Civil War Dead."

The museum will be open seven days a week, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. Admission at the downtown site will be $6.50 for adults, $6 for seniors, $4.50 for children 10-16, and $1 for children 6-9. Children 5 and under are free. Docent-guided tours will also be available to groups, but must be booked in advance.

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine is a private, not-for-profit 501 (c ) (3) corporation which receives no ongoing operational funding from federal, state, county or city levels. The museum depends on grants and donations form private sources for funding. Its mission is to educate a national and international audience about the true story of Civil War medicine. Thirteen levels of Museum memberships are available with special benefits offered for each level. All members re-ceive the award-winning quarterly newsletter, "Surgeon's Call."

The museum sponsors an annual conference on Civil War medicine the first weekend in August. This year's program focused on naval medicine.

For more information call (301) 695-1864; e-mail museum@civilwarmed.org; or visit www.civilwarmed.org.