Cycloramas were the zenith of art and entertainment in their heyday — 50 feet high and surrounding you from all sides.
These traveling exhibits required specially constructed buildings and were as immersive as modern virtual reality.
Some of the most famous cycloramas depicted Civil War batteries like Gettysburg and Atlanta. In fact, you can still see a Gettysburg Cyclorama at the National Historic Site.
An expert from James A. Garfield National Historic Site discusses the role of Civil War cycloramas as art, journalism, entertainment and memorial.
Our Civil War series continues at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 12, at our Main Branch. Learn how you can research your family’s Civil War genealogy using online database.
By the way, if you’re interested in Civil War history, several talks in our Civil War series can be viewed online in their entirety, including:
- 60 Years of Service: The Life of Admiral David G. Farragut
- Bennett Place: The Final Surrender of the Confederacy
- Ulysses Grant the Election of 1868
- The History of the Medal of Honor
- Burying the Dead after a Civil War Battle
- James A. Garfield & the First Decoration Day
- Prelude to Fort Sumter: The Mexican-American War
- Ambrose Burnside: An Innovator in Firearms & Facial Hair
- Warriors to the White House – Civil War Generals that Became President
- General Winfield Scott Hancock
- the Civil War and the Grand Army of the Republic
- from Civil War to Civil Rights
- political cartooning during and after the Civil War
- the Civil War and USS Michigan