Back then the news travelled slowly and came via newspaper. The NY Times cost just 2 cents and was as current as you could get at the time.
Ron Grim created this exhibit with items from the Boston Public Library. It's housed at the Grolier Club, and it started not long after the end of the Civil War. It's a spot that celebrates books, prints and maps.
"You can see them as people saw them," said Grim, "That's value added."
The heroes of the war may have been white men mostly with beards, according to a souvenir poster, but behind the scenes, women did their part by caring for soldiers, even making them slippers from patterns.
In the 1860s, all men weren't created equal, but 150 years later, you don't need a map to see the progress propelled by war.
A virtual exhibition of Torn in Two with digital images of all objects, as well as K-12 curriculum materials and educational resources based on the exhibition's themes, are offered on the Leventhal Map Center's website, maps.bpl.org and at tornintwo.org.
LOCATION AND TIME: Torn in Two is on view at the Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, New York, from Feb. 22 - April 28, 2012. The exhibit is open to the public free of charge, Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Additional information and directions are available at www.grolierclub.org.
