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Graphics for this project designed by The American Civil War Museum
Sacred Nine Project: Libby Prison
States of Mind, States of Being
Saturday, April 1, 2023, Civil War and Emancipation Day Celebration, The American Civil War Museum, Richmond, VA
We are privileged to be invited to The American Civil War Museum in Richmond, VA, to offer a concert for their Civil War and Emancipation Celebration! War is an ugly business, and none so ugly as the Civil War. Confederate Libby Prison was notorious for its poor and crowded conditions. Our presentation displays ways in which the Union soldiers processed and persevered. To do this, we offer snapshots into the lives of the prisoners, including musical settings of their own words in The Libby Chronicle, written by the prisoners and read aloud to them every Friday. We also explore the prisoner’s patriotism, their longing for their families, and their attempts occasionally to escape their reality. One unique aspect of this presentation is an original song written about a rose brooch and earrings carved by a prisoner out of beef bone; these items are in the museum’s holdings, and are pictured in the concert program, whose link is above.
Also, some sources assert that, because of its “Singing Chaplain McCabe,” Libby Prison was one of the reaons “Battle Hymn of the Republic” became a smash hit. The tune started as a revivalist hymn,“Canaan’s Happy Shore.” It was later repurposed as the Union marching song, “John Brown’s Body,” and finally used as vehicle for Julia Ward Howe’s enduring verse. We will explore this evolution, and offer a newly written “Unity Hymn” which is a kind of 21st-century answer to all the military imagery in Howe’s poem.
The central piece will be the beloved “Wayfaring Stranger,” often referred to as “Libby Prison Hymn”; as legend has it, its lyrics were carved into the walls of Libby. Other familiar pieces are the Union Rally Songs that were reportedly sung in the prison.
Just as Battle Hymn evolved, so must we. War is not completely avoidable…not yet, anyway. Still we can keep our eyes focused on a place, as “The Unity Hymn” promises, with “Friendlier Fields, Kinder Climes, and Holy Hills.”
Photos by John Dixon from The American Civil War Museum