Historians Criticizing Civil War Library Materials Loan

Staff -- Library Journal, 3/5/2001

The Civil War Library and Museum, Philadelphia, is drawing fire from local historians for agreeing to lend a portion of its collection to the new Tredegar National Civil War Foundation, Richmond, VA. The museum was founded 100 years ago by former Union officers as a tribute to the role played by Philadelphia in the war, leading critics to assert that the soldiers intended for the materials to remain permanently in that city. Though a small facility, the library houses 3000 artifacts, 7000 photographs, 13,000 books, and numerous manuscripts and papers, including materials by President Rutherford B. Hayes, who was its first president.