First Impressions of hte National Museum of Civil War Medicine

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

First Impressions of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine

                Welcome to my blog! I have never blogged before but I am really excited to be able to tell everyone about my experiences here at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine as an intern.  I suppose I should start by saying my name is Jenn and I came here to Maryland all the way from northern California.  I just graduated with my BA in History and a minor in Literature.  I have always had a passion for the Civil War since I was a child.  I’ve read tons of books, written papers on it and gone to reenactments with my dad whenever possible (though we don’t have many out in California).  I also wrote my senior research thesis on women nurses during the war so I am thrilled to finally be close to all the historical action!

                One of the first things I noticed about Frederick was just how different the architecture is here compared to California.  Everything here is built from brick.  I have never seen so much brick in all my life! Even my bedroom her e has an exposed brick wall! The houses are so nice though with their cute little fronts.  I feel like I am almost in a movie since that is the only time I have seen houses this way.  My home here is a 100 year old house and I love hearing all the quirks and facts about the neighborhood.  Would you believe that until I moved here I had never been in a basement or an attic? It’s true.

                My first days here at the museum were fantastic.  I was pretty nervous though and showed up a half hour early just to be on the safe side.  The museum itself is three stories with two floor of exhibits, a library, collections room and offices on the third floor.  When I came in Jo introduced me to various people on the staff such as George (who used to reenact with my senior advisor at school actually), April, Meg, Kyle, Tom and Jenna (just a small sampling).  I got a tour of the exhibits from Tom where I gasped and oo’d over things like surgery equipment, bullets, hardtack, Clara Barton’s trunk bed and the surgeon’s tent.  Museums in California just don’t have these sorts of things so I was over the moon to be viewing these artifacts for the first time.  I have only read about these places and items but here I was, 3,000 miles from California, with this great opportunity.  I think I could have floated home because I was so excited and happy.

                I cannot wait to see what great things I get to do here because I am ready to go!