Episode 29: American Civil War Museum, White House

Curator's Choice

This week we meet with Ana Edwards for our second installment of a three-part series featuring the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia. Ana tells us about the history of Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States, and home life in the “White House of the Confederacy” during his Presidency. We also discuss the complex relationships between enslavers, free blacks, and the enslaved, and the vision of the Confederacy as displayed in the museum’s Southern Ambitions exhibit.

Gasoliers

Just prior to the Civil War, Lewis Crenshaw completed a glamorous renovation on the “house with many names”, aimed at making the house a showcase of the prestigious neighborhood. Along with adding a 3rd story, he also purchased exquisite gasoliers that tapped into a local coal gas plant. With this modernization, the lights in the home were fueled with gas instead of coal and were much more energy-intensive to use, requiring each lamp to be individually turned on and lit with a match. There were 15 lights in the house, each with 2 to 6 lamps a piece!
Episode Links:

• American Civil War Museum webpage: https://acwm.org/

• The Baltimore Sun article about The Home of Jeff Davis: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1999-08-08-9908100462-story.html

Support the show

Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers