CW PROJECT AND DISPLAY SUGGESTIONS

1. Present a famous battle. Present information on commanders, geography of the battle, dramatic moments, and ultimate results. Many museums use a diorama (models) to give a visual dimension to the viewer. Small lights on key spots can give a great perspective and give your display great crowd appeal. Even an attached audio tape can give the battle great flavor as Civil War music or dramatic readings.

2. Create a display on an important figure of the war such as Robert E. Lee or Ulysses S. Grant.

3. Research and present both Confederate and Union flags showing the development and variety of flags on one or both sides.

4. Research and prepare an important food item such as the universal hardtack. Possibly present a display showing a typical meal of a Yank or Reb.

5. Research uniforms of both sides and take pictures or drawings of one or both sides showing the wide variety of fighting attire.

6. Research and create a display on the geography and terrain of the Civil War.

7. Read about weapons such as knives, pistols, sabers, rifles, and cannons. Present a display showing the development of weapons and the wide variety of carnage they caused.

8. Focus your research on the variety of headgear for women and men during the war. Present both military and civilian headgear.

9. Find a picture or drawing of a typical camp set up. Build a smalldiorama of a camp showing tents, campfires, soldiers, rifle stacks.

10. Show several examples of soldiers' letters home. Pictures of the writer will stir powerful emotions in the viewer.

11. Research hospitals, dressing stations, medical instruments, tools, and supplies. Build a display showing pictures, drawings, or actual instruments used during the war.

12. Take authentic portraits and research personalities such as Matthew Brady or Timothy O'Sullivan. Present a photo montage using both your photographs and actual ones during the war. Research photographers and their equipment.

13. Create a display of Civil war money and script. Exhibit the different forms and variety.

14. Compare two generals of the war - one Union and one Confederate (not Lee and Grant). What common threads run through the biographies of both men?

15. Research drill manuals such as Hardee's Tactics. Use diagrams, pictures, etc.

16. Research artists, sketch artists, and painters who worked during the war.

17. Design and display several recruitment posters used by both sides during the war.

18. Research and display the work by the Red Cross during the Civil War and Clara Barton's contribution to that organization.

19. Research an invention or inventions of the war. A wrinkle to this topic is a display on weird or wacky inventions that never were actually used (e.g., Pontoon shoes!)

20. Using a model or diorama, present a display on the famous naval battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac. Or research iron-clads and how they were used in the war.

21. Research infamous prisons of the Civil War such as Andersonville. Perhaps a diorama would work here.

22. Prepare a display on the human cost of battle. Use picture, drawings, and first-person accounts of the confusion, fear, and horror of combat.

23. Build several examples of Civil War fortifications - abatis, palisades, chevaux-de-frise.

24. Research the role of African-American soldiers in the war. Focus on one famous regiment (e.g., 54th Massachusetts) and on one personality involved in the war, such as Frederick Douglass.

25. Research the navies during the war. Show advances of naval technology or possibly give a history of blockade runners used by the South to break the Union's naval blockade.

26. Research and present the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. A diorama or picture display could be very dramatic.

27. Create a display on Civil War villains such as John Wilkes Booth, Heinrich Wirz, or William "Bloody Bill" Quantrill.

28. Present a display showing forms of discipline and punishment used by officers to keep order in the camps.

29. Research Sherman's March to the Sea. Using maps, props, and pictures present a display showing the route Sherman's troops took and the destruction they caused.

30. Construct a display of the variety of famous Hollywood films of the Civil War.

31. Create a display of the variety of Union corps badges, or a presentation of rank insignia used by both sides curing the war.

32. Research and present a display on the role of submarines.

33. Present a display on the Civil War First Ladies - Mary Todd Lincoln and Varina Davis. An interesting play might be the two of them meeting for tea.

34. Research the origins of the Medal of Honor during the Civil War. Display pictures of several winners, both black and white.

35. Create a display with pictures, drawing, and descriptions showing Abraham Lincoln age during the war years from an Illinois country lawyer to the last photograph taken just days before his death.

36. Research equipment used during the war. Construct a display showing such items as tents, cartridge boxes, knapsacks, bedrolls, canteens, shoes, buckles, etc.

37. Outfit a mannequin or statue with a full uniform of a particular side. Construct facsimiles of his equipment, rifle, etc.

38. Produce a display on different kinds of bullets, cannonballs, ammunition. Show how a cartridge was produced - even make one, substituting salt for black powder.

39. Research and present a display on the life of both slaves, and free blacks during the War. Give information on African-American's contributions to the war effort.

40. Prepare a display showing a timeline of important events during the war. Use pictures, drawings, and other visuals to enhance your timeline.

41. Research the background and origin of Civil War music and its musicians. Have an audio tape available to play several examples while the viewer reads from your display.

42. Research and display several important documents of the war: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, The Emancipation Proclamation, Lee's farewell Address to his troops, etc.

43. Build a display or diorama model of the surrender of General Lee to General Grant in Wilmer McLean's parlor on April 9, 1865.

44. Display several examples of Civil War newspapers.

45. Research the roles of animals during the Civil War. For instance, thousands of horses were killed during the war - making the battlefield even more gruesome.

46. Build accurate models of several of the types of bridges constructed by engineers during the Civil War.




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