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Personal touch!

Thanks to NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the “Morgan Trust” (i.e. Marietta McNeil Morgan & Samuel Tate Morgan, Jr. Foundation), there is a new exhibit case in the USS Monitor Center!
This one is celebrating the two gentlemen found in the turret during excavation in 2002. Their facial reconstructions are on display as well as their belongings, most of which were located in what would have been their pockets.

Crewmen relaxing on deck, while the ship was in the James River, Virginia, on 9 July 1862. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

The majority of their clothes were not preserved, which insinuates that they were primarily made of vegetal fibers (cotton, linen…). During burial, the turret environment became slightly acidic due to metal corrosion and only animal fibers have the capacity to resist such conditions (hence the reason why 80% of a wool coat was preserved).
It is a poignant display. Each and every one of us can relate to what these men were wearing and carrying in their pockets during their last moments, even if it was 155 years ago… Come and see it for yourself! You will find this new case in the large artifact gallery of the USS Monitor Center. See you soon!!

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