A Photographic History of Ship Island’s, Article Critique Example

Introduction 

The museum which was visited is the Ohr- O’ Keefe Museum in Biloxi MS. The telephone number for the Ohr- O’ Keefe Museum is (228) – 374-5547. The exhibit which was viewed is: The Native Guard: A Photographic History of Ship Island’s African American Regiment. The exhibit was displayed in the Pleasant Reed Interpretative Center.  The names of the authors are C.P. (“Kitty”) Weaver of Massachusetts and Isiah Edwards of Mississippi. The mediums which was used are photographs. The dimensions are the collection exhibition in which the photographs which were displayed in the Pleasant Reed Interpretative Center of the Ohr- O’Keefe Museum. The thesis of the essay is to provide a critique on the photographs and excerpts from the museum exhibit (Ohr- O’ Keefe Museum of Art 1).

Critique of the Exhibit

The exhibit detailed photographs and letters of the antecedence of the Louisiana Native Guards with regards to the Second regiment. These were free African American soldiers who volunteered to provide military service for the Confederate Army at the New Orleans in 1861.  The soldiers volunteered for service in order to protect the State of Louisiana against any invader who might disturb the domestic tranquillity. The soldiers and the officers were all of African descent.  Subsequent to the Union forces arriving and placing a siege upon the City of New Orleans, the Native Guard were released from the military service to the Confederacy (Weaver 1).

General Butler, who was serving as the administrating general for the Union forces at New Orleans requested additional troops from the Union Army in order to continue to occupy New Orleans. At the time there had been no military reinforcements who were available for the Union. General Butler communicated to the War Secretary, Edwin M. Stanton that he intended to configure a military regiment of liberated Africans. The Native Guard were reformed in order to protect the State of Louisiana and were admitted to the Union Army. The change in alliance caused many to inquire with regards to the loyalty of the Native Guards (Weaver 1).

The Africans who volunteered for military service in order to defend the Confederacy claimed that this had been performed in order to provide protection for their homes and interests in the State of Louisiana.  General Butler also recruited escaped slaves in order to join the newly reconfigured Native Guard. In the middle of 1863, these soldiers were united into what became known as the African Corps. The Africans loyally served the Union Army. The Native Guard provided any service to the Union Army that was required.  Notwithstanding, the exhibit discusses the plight of the famous regiment during the war between the Union States and the Confederacy. Many of the soldiers who serviced in the Native Guard were mistreated during the Civil War and after the Civil War (Weaver 1).

The exhibit does a wonderful endeavour at glorifying the soldiers and providing historical information on the Native Guards of Louisiana who served in the Second regiment. The reality was that the Union Army allowed the African American soldiers to engage in battle during the war. The Louisiana Native Guard members attempted to serve their nation in any capacity possible. The African American soldiers built fortresses and had been a substantial contribution to the Union Army. Nevertheless, their heroic contributions to the Union Army went relatively unacknowledged in history. The exhibit informed that one of the volunteers for the Native Guard, P. B. S. Pinchback survived the Civil War and became the first Reconstruction governor of the State of Louisiana who had been of African American heritage (Weaver 1).

Conclusion

The Ohr- O’Keefe Museum exhibit titled: The Native Guard: A Photographic History Ship Island’s African American Regiment was extremely educational. There had been relatively little mention in historical text with regards to the African American soldiers and officers who serve in the Louisiana Native Guard. In addition to the photographs, the exhibit has letters which were saved and excerpts from the book written by C.P Weaver.  The photographic exhibit provided history into the Louisiana Native Guard. This had been history that has rarely been discussed. The photographs and documents in the exhibit provided excellent historical insight into the Native Guards of Louisiana.

Works Cited

Weaver, C. P. (“Kitty”) and Isiah Edwards. The Native Guard: A Photographic History of Ship Island’s African American Regiment. 1998. Photographs. Pleasant Reed Interpretative Center, Ohr- O’Keefe Museum, Biloxi, MS. 10 April 2015.