On February 9, 2009 some sixty Virginia lawmakers gathered at Richmond’s St. Paul’s Episcopal Church across from the statehouse for the unveiling of the new exhibition Virginia at War: A Photographic Journey. The exhibition was a joint venture between the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT), the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission (VSCWC) and the Center for Civil War Photography (CCWP). CWPT sponsored the event to welcome Virginia legislators back into session.
At the event, attendees browsed twenty exhibit panels which took them back to Virginia’s Civil War experience as the tides of war ebbed and flowed throughout the commonwealth. “The photo exhibit really brought the events to life,” said CWPT Director of Communications Jim Campi. “It gave attendees a great opportunity to immerse themselves in Virginia’s rich Civil War history.”
CCWP Vice President Garry Adelman and Civil War Richmond expert Michael D. Gorman assembled the exhibition’s content. “More Civil War documentary photos were taken in Virginia than anywhere else,” said Gorman. “With so much imagery, telling the complex story of Virginia’s Civil War experience was very challenging on just twenty panels.” He added “We hope to make a book out of it using all the stuff we had to cut out!”
The exhibition was well-traveled in 2009—it was displayed at VSCWC’s Signature Conference in April. It then appeared at CWPT’s Annual Conference in June and at its Teachers’ Institute in July.
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