Civil War Museum Proposed At Tredegar Works
RICHMOND, Va.

Proof that interest in the Civil War is unflagging at the dawn of the new millennium, yet another major Civil War museum is on the drawing boards, this one planned for the heart of the Confederacy.
Alexander Wise, director of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, is spearheading creation of the Tredegar National Civil War Center, a $38 million museum that will be housed at the historic Tredegar Iron Works on Richmond's James River waterfront.
"What we're attempting to do is tell the whole story nationally," said Wise. "There's a strong sense of place here. Richmond was ground zero in the war. There were 43 major battles within 30 miles."
Wise has applied to form a nonprofit, the Tredegar National Civil War Center Foundation, to operate the museum. The Ethyl Corp., which owns Tredegar, is providing the historic foundry building, the Virginia General Assembly has supplied $250,000 for planning, and Wise hopes to mount an exhibit collection that will largely comprise loans from the Museum of the Confederacy, the Civil War Library & Museum in Philadelphia, the Smithsonian and the Army.
Wise wants to weave a three-story line to delineate the Union, Confederate and black experiences in the war.
Appearing outside Tredegar on Sept. 12, Gov. James Gilmore accepted a collection of 3000 artifacts on the black Civil War experience donated to the center by John Motley, a black insurance executive from Hartford, Conn., and a director of the Civil War Preservation Trust.
"Today we begin to heal the wounds of history," Gilmore said, referring obliquely to recent racial tensions in Richmond focusing on the Civil War. A large banner displaying the image of Robert E. Lee was burned after it prompted criticism among black leaders, and some whites were critical of the majority-black City Council for stripping Richmond bridges of the names of Confederate heroes.
Wise acknowledged that "there is certainly potential for explosions" over the new museum. But he added, "We've worked very hard to develop an understanding with the black community here so that is not repeated. We're going to tell the whole story, which hasn't happened here. That their participation will be told is a very positive development for the black community." Wise said he had spoken with local black leaders and had won the support of the black caucus in the General Assembly. "We basically haven't had any dissenting voices here, at least publicly," he said. "There's a feeling in this community that this story needs to be told."
Asked if there was a danger of overtelling the African American experience, Wise replied, "There's not an attempt to slant this one way or the other. The African American story is a strong theme but it's not a dominant theme. We're going to tell the whole story. We're going to be relying heavily on our historians and the balanced nature of our decision-makers to make sure we do a full job of telling everyone's story. We're trying to be very careful."
Wise has won endorsements from some weighty names in the Civil War community, including James McPherson, Gary Gallagher, both of whom are serving as consultants as well as, Drew Gilpin Faust, Emory Thomas and Edwin Bearss.
Chairman of Wise's foundation is naval veteran and Richmond native Samuel Gravely Jr., 78, the first African American to reach the rank of vice admiral.
Gallagher asserted that the presentation of history will be balanced.
"It won't be wacky," he said. "This has the potential to be the best museum of its kind in the U.S. It will attempt to take in the entire landscape of the war ã military campaigns and leaders, as well as events on the respective home fronts."
In a letter to Wise last January, McPherson wrote "What you are proposing ã a truly comprehensive exhibit and education center weaving together Union, Confederate, and African American threads ã is lacking today and is much needed for future generations to understand how the Civil War shaped the nation we today take for granted."
Although McPherson stated, "It is hoped that the Civil War Library & Museum will contribute one of the country's best Union collections" to Tredegar, Wise indicated that he expects a loan of artifacts "as one museum does to another. We haven't talked about the scope of the loan. Right now I'm just interested in getting some Union things."
Michael Schwartz, president of the Civil War Library & Museum board, said they had been approached as "a potential loaner of some of our artifacts," although there has been no formal request. The opportunity comes at a time of uncertainty for the Civil War Library; Schwartz described the financially troubled museum as "in a holding pattern" for the past year.
"I think it's a fabulous idea," Schwartz said of the Tredegar project. "I'm very supportive of them." He said there had been "no discussions on our board to pick up and loan all of our collection to anybody." But he added, "I've learned never to say never."
He suggested that an option might be a smaller facility in Philadelphia and loaning part of the collection to one of the new museums, whether in Richmond, Gettysburg or Harrisburg.
"Sometimes a better venue may help," Schwartz said. "Clearly Philadelphia is not a Civil War town."
As for the Museum of the Confederacy, President J.E.B. Stuart IV said the extent of the museum's involvement was "fuzzy" at present, but the museum is prepared to supply Tredegar with the bulk of the Confederate items that will be on display in the new center.
Although Stuart acknowledged the "difficulty" visitors have in reaching his own museum's East Clay Street location, and the appeal of the Tredegar site on the recently restored Haxall Canal, he said he saw no threat of competition from Tredegar.
"It gives us another venue to reach more people and tell our story," Stuart said. He added that he was confident that the Tredegar museum will display accurate history. "I'm convinced that Alex wants to present this in a straightforward, unvarnished way," he said.
Wise is proposing a three-phase project. Phase One, costing $10 million, would create a museum by the year 2003 in the foundry building's 12,000 to 14,000 square feet of exhibit space. Phase 2, another $10 million, would add an interpretive center, to be completed by 2007, Virginia's 400th anniversary. And a library, research center and offices would be completed by 2010 ã "the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's election," Wise noted. The phases will be "self-contained," so that if only one phase is accomplished, the facility will be complete.
Wise acknowledged that the Tredegar project is only the latest major Civil War museum planned or built. Fund-raising is about to begin for a national Civil War museum at Gettysburg; Harrisburg is projecting to open its National Civil War Museum in December; a museum is proposed for Hagerstown, Md.; Pamplin Historical Park near Petersburg has a new museum; and Richmond National Battlefield Park opened a new and expanded museum and visitor center in an adjacent Tredegar building in June.
But Wise said his project "will be different from the others. We'll have many signature artifacts, and you tell the stories from what you have to show. Richmond was a different place than Harrisburg. You can tell different stories here than you can there. For instance, you can get into the African American experience in a way you can't there.

"You can also tell the Tredegar story itself, the heart of the Confederate industrial complex. We have a unique building and location," he said.

The adjacent battlefield park museum will be complementary rather than competitive, Wise said, because the park highlights the Richmond story. Wise predicted that development of the center will be supported by some state and federal funding, but most of the money will come from private sources.

"Obviously we'll have to mount a major fund-raising campaign," he said. Asked if he might pursue the same private dollars as the new museum foundation at Gettysburg, he replied "It's a competitive world."

Wise, who, like Motley, is a director of the Civil War Preservation Trust, predicted that with "proper marketing," the center should be drawing a quarter of a million visitors in five years. Wise has served as head of the Department of Historic Resources for the last six-and-a-half years. He said it was possible that he may leave the department to direct the new center.