Reopened G.A.R. Post

If only for the photograph, you’ll want to click over to a recent entry on Civil War Librarian about a restored Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) post meeting room in Pennsylvania.

The GAR was, to Union veterans, what the United Confederate Veterans (UCV) was to Confederate veterans: local groups of Civil War veterans who met to socialize, reminisce and perform some community service. Many of the GAR posts and UCV camps acquired their own space in local libraries, courthouses or public buildings.

The restored GAR post meeting room in Pennsylvania displays the flags and memorabilia collected by post members. I don’t recall having seen a photo of any UCV camp meeting room, but they must have been similar. When it was built in 1907, L. Z. Duke Hall at the Kentucky Confederate Home became the meeting place for various state reunions and business meetings. (Kentucky Division of the UCV, Morgan’s Men Association and Orphans Brigade often held annual meetings there through the 1920s.) The walls of Duke Hall were hung with battle flags, portraits of Confederate heroes, ornamental sabers, and even a collection of Confederate uniform buttons.