History enthusiasts are a different bunch. Rain, wind and snow don’t typically deter us from exploring battlefields and historic sites, while here in Western Pennsylvania, summertime humidity can feel almost tropical. Sunburns, insects, dehydration, or a twisted ankle, can just as easily put us right back onto the couch.
If the cold-weather months are a time when many retreat indoors, I would argue that summer is the perfect opportunity for history enthusiasts to explore indoors, specifically to the Capt. Thomas Espy Post at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.
After being utilized for some three decades in the early 1900s as a meeting room for the area’s local Civil War veterans, the room was locked as a veritable time capsule for nearly a half century. Let’s unpack some of the benefits of exploring during the summer months.
When you walk into the Espy Post, the first thing you notice is the temperature. During the 2010 restoration that returned the room to its true grandeur, a climate control system was added to stabilize the environment for the precious artifacts on display.
Because many museum objects are organic, fluctuations in temperature and humidity can quickly break down an artifact’s physical structure. To preserve these artifacts for future generations, the Espy Post maintains a temperature of 64 degrees and 40% humidity year-round, which feels fantastic in the summer.
Like many of us who seek out air conditioning today, Abraham Lincoln sought refuge from the summer heat and humidity at his cottage at the Soldiers’ Home on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. There, between 1862-64, Lincoln carried on the official business during some of the most desperate campaigns of the Civil War.
The Lincoln Gallery at ACFL&MH, located just outside the Espy Post, features 100 of the approximately 130 known photographs of Abraham Lincoln. This powerful exhibit offers a space for quiet contemplation of our 16th president and the decisions that weighed on him during the Civil War’s summer months.
So many of the most recognizable Civil War battles occurred in the summer campaign season: Bull Run, The Seven Days, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, The Wilderness, the Overland Campaign and more. Through their incredible foresight, the veterans who called the Espy Post home numbered and identified each of the artifacts they left for us in a “Catalog of Relics.”
This catalog, reprinted and available for a $10 donation, highlights the history behind the artifacts, including who carried or collected the items, and what battlefields each is tied to. You can explore these stories from the comfort of your easy chair, or in the Espy Post itself while you examine the artifacts.
While many of us plan to avail ourselves of the summer weather and visit our favorite battlefields, I would encourage you to go armed with a copy of the Espy catalog. You can search out the locations on the battlefield where these veterans were engaged or where the relics were collected following the war.
If you plan your visit on the anniversary of the battle (as so many history enthusiasts strive to do), you can tie the veterans, their stories, and their artifacts back to a specific point on the battlefield at the very moment — some 160 years later, of course — that the events occurred.
The Capt. Thomas Espy Post is open for guided tours each Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. or by appointment. We invite you to escape the heat this summer and explore a true national treasure right in your own backyard!
Jon-Erik Gilot is the Espy Post Curator at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.