The West Baton Rouge Museum commemorates the 150th anniversary of the U. S. Civil War with the opening of the exhibition, A World Turned Upside Down: Civil War Home Front Perspectives.  The exhibit runs from October 1 through December 31, 2011.

Wars have always been viewed as causing great change, but the impact of the Civil War was unparalleled in American history. Most of the conflict took place on Southern soil, making the war’s impact felt directly by the people left to fend for themselves on the Southern home front. This moving exhibit focuses on the Louisiana home front, including battles and skirmishes fought in the state, daily life in occupied towns and cities, and the fall of the plantation system.  The exhibit explores the lives of women, children and the enslaved people who were left behind when the soldiers went to war through images, first-hand reports, and historic artifacts.

Sarah Morgan

She escaped Baton Rouge and lived as a refugee in West Baton Rouge for a portion of the war.

The exhibit looks at Louisiana women’s contributions to the war effort highlighting their loyalties, perseverance and ingenuity. For example, Sarah Morgan’s refugee experience in West Baton Rouge and the spies’ and smugglers’ devices stowed in the heel of a shoe and under petite coats. Artifacts and histories recall the oppressive “Beast” Butler’s reign over New Orleans, and Henry Watkins Allen’s call to women to support the medical and textile needs of soldiers out in the field. The exhibit includes a replica medical field tent with period medical implements and Allen's traveling trunk that he brought when he escaped to Mexico.

U.S. Civil War themed lectures and programs to complement the exhibit include:

November 3, 6pm to 8pm: Wine and Watercolors: Enjoy wine and friends while you learn to paint live models in antebellum period dress. Free.

November 5, 10:30am to noon: Civil War Women Perspectives: A Historical Performance. Meet five women from Louisiana’s Civil War home front followed by an easy Victorian jewelry workshop. Audiences of all ages welcome. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Registration is requested, (225) 336-2422 x15 Free.
November 16, noon: Lunch Time Lecture: The Volatile Radical Reconstruction Era in the Sugar Parishes. Adam Foreman curator from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Shadows on the Teche. Free.

To register for any of these programs and for more information please call (225) 336-2422 x15