Athens, GA — It’s easy to feel far removed from the Civil War era, but for students in the University of Georgia’s HIST 4760/6760 Hands-on Public History course that isn’t the case. Students in this class work with community partners to develop public history projects based on primary and secondary sources. This spring semester, the class partnered with the Georgia Museum of Art to curate “Seeing the News in Harper’s Weekly, 1860 – 80,” an exhibition featuring illustrations from Harper’s Weekly that focus on the Civil War and its aftermath. The exhibition will be on view in the museum’s Study Gallery May 23 – July 12.
Akela Reason, history professor and director of the museum studies certificate program at UGA, taught the course. To choose a topic for the exhibition, she partnered with Tricia Miller, deputy director of collections and exhibitions and head registrar at the museum, who taught HIST 4765 (Museum Registration Methods) this past spring. Reason’s students selected the prints and wrote accompanying labels, while Miller’s students created condition reports for each work. Erin Ideker, an exhibition design intern at the museum, determined how the works are displayed.
Harper’s Weekly was known for its illustrations, which told the news through imagery. Daily papers of the era did not have illustrations, and as a result people relied on weekly publications like Harper’s for images. A crucial source for the period, it was widely accessible and commonly read. Reason said, “It’s estimated that a single issue would pass between 5 and 10 other people.”
The exhibition focuses on two main artists, Thomas Nast and Winslow Homer, who both made illustrations for Harper’s Weekly. Nast was one of the most popular cartoonists of his time, best known for establishing the donkey and elephant as symbols for the Democratic and Republican Parties. Homer was a well-known painter whose Civil War illustrations became iconic images of the period. Nast’s and Homer’s illustrations cover political issues such as Reconstruction, post-war civil rights, segregation and dealing with ex-Confederates. Although Harper’s began as a nonpartisan news source, it became staunchly pro-Union during the war and continued supporting the Republican Party in the years that followed.
“Seeing the News in Harper’s Weekly” will display the printed illustrations as well as a complete edition of Harper’s Weekly, all from the museum’s collection. Wood blocks that were used to stamp illustrations into the magazines will also be on view, courtesy of UGA’s Special Collections Libraries. Student curators wanted visitors to be able to imagine how Harper’s was consumed back in the day. To re-create the experience, the class included a facsimile copy of a single issue in its entirety, which visitors will be able to pick up and read.
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Authored by:
Jisu Stanfield
