The Civil War in Art: Teaching & Learning through Chicago Collections

The Civil War in Art: Teaching and Learning through Chicago Collections is intended to help teachers and students learn about the Civil War—its causes and effects—and connect to the issues, events, and people of the era through works of art. The website was initiated, funded, and developed by the Chicago-based Terra Foundation for American Art in acknowledgement of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War (1861–65). From 2010 to 2012, the Terra Foundation collaborated with six Chicago cultural organizations on the project. Each partner contributed images from its collection along with written descriptions, questions for discussion, and additional reading sources. Content specialists from DePaul University curated the selection of objects and wrote the Exhibit texts and selected object descriptions. Terra Foundation staff contributed to the writing and editing of the exhibit texts, object descriptions, and other content in collaboration with the partners and content specialists.