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player ready...Letters and photographs, weapons and slave shackles and medical equipment aimed at bloodletting.
These are some of the artifacts that offer a glimpse into American life during the Civil War and the American Indian Wars. They will be featured during a five-day exhibit that opens Wednesday at the McCord Gallery in Palos Park.
“The Civil War and American Indian Wars” has been culled from private collections of four area men who own an array of artifacts that came from the battlefields of the Civil War, the operating rooms of the 19th century, the lives of slaves, and the conflicts between whites and Native Americans that continued for decades after the Civil War.
Joseph Matheu, a family practice physician from Palos Park, is one of the collectors lending items to the exhibition.
“The purpose is to educate and stimulate people who (visit),” Matheu said of the exhibit, noting that he doesn’t think the Civil War and American Indian wars are studied enough in schools. He will display weapons, including a gun belt from the 7th Cavalry used during the Battle of Little Big Horn. He also has a gun that was likely used by George Custer’s nephew, and a lock of Geronimo’s hair.
Matheu said the item that began his collection is a letter written by a Civil War commanding officer which he purchased at a shop at Disney World more than 20 years ago.
“I didn’t know you could buy history like that,” Matheu said. After that purchase, he pursued the auction house where the letter came from and other sources to add to his collection.
Matheu said that as he researched the history of the Custer gun and connected with its previous owner, who had taught on a Cheyenne reservation. As Matheu learned more Native American history, he was inspired to start a volunteer group that performs medical and other community service projects on a reservation in Montana once a year.
The McCord has hosted about eight exhibits related to the Civil War over the past years, each with a different emphasis. Last year’s focused on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, said Lynne Terr, the museum’s executive director.
“All of the artifacts are museum-quality,” Terr said.
Daniel Michalak, a retired pharmacist from New Lenox, has been collecting Civil War items since 1998, with a particular interest in medical artifacts of that time period. He joins Matheu and two others for the exhibit.
“I have some dentistry equipment that is kind of scary looking,” he said, along with prosthetic eyeballs, an apothecary chest and a “bleeding set.”
“The thinking at the time was that the blood was the problem,” Michalak said. Doctors had sets of cups and “scarificators,” which were blades for bloodletting.
“Sometimes (doctors) would bleed the patients until they passed out,” Michalak said.
Jason Krausz and David Carroll are adding to the Civil War artifacts, including weapons they will demonstrate several times throughout the week, Terr said.
Michalak and Matheu have also exhibited together at the Lincoln Museum, the Joliet Area Historical Museum and in Indiana.
“Our main focus is to get people interested in history,” Michalak said.
Paige Fumo Fox is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
The Civil War and American Indian Wars Exhibit
Where: McCord Gallery, 9602 W. Creek Road, Palos Park
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 16-20
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Admission: $12, adults, free for students and under 18
Information: 708-671-0648; www.mccordgallery.org