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All Net Proceeds from "Bummers"
will go toward saving the
George W. Wray Jr.
Civil War Collection at the Atlanta History Center (AHC).
The Wray Collection is considered among the finest and most
important private collections of Confederate artifacts in the United
States. Beginning in 1948 at the age of fourteen, Mr. Wray
assembled this remarkable collection of Confederate enlisted men’s
uniforms, previously unknown flags, and many of the few surviving
examples of Southern-made firearms, bayonets, and artillery pieces.
Along the way, he meticulously researched the original owners and
makers of some one thousand individual artifacts. We can help
preserve this collection.
The One
Hundred Fifty-Five Confederate Manufactured or Used Long Arms
in the collection make it the largest and most complete of its type
in existence, larger than the DuBose Collection (also at the AHC) and the holdings of the Museum of the
Confederacy. The ninety-three documented Confederate-made longarms
in the Wray collection represents the full range of Confederate
production from Virginia to Texas. Of particular note are Richmond
and Fayetteville rifles, a Texas contract rifle, five
Confederate-made sniper rifles, and a one-of-a-kind Alexander
breech-loading carbine. Comprising all but one known example, the
fifty-six Confederate saber bayonets in
the Wray Collection represent the most complete
assemblage of such items in existence. The twenty-one swords
and knives in the collection include some of the rarest examples
of southern and foreign craftsmanship.
The
Wray Collection’s Seven Confederate Artillery Pieces
are extraordinarily rare examples of small-caliber specialized
field guns. The acquisition of these pieces by the AHC would allow additional interpretation of the Thomas S.
Dickey Collection (now on exhibit), which contains some of the
only known ammunition used by these guns. Documented
Confederate flags, especially battleflags and naval ensigns, are
extremely rare outside of state museum collections.
The Wray
Collection Includes Three Battle Flags
(4th South Carolina, 1st Georgia, 33rd Texas Cavalry), a naval
ensign from a blockade runner, a garrison flag from Fort Gregg.
South Carolina, a cavalry guidon made in Richmond, and more. The
total surviving number of Confederate enlisted jackets anywhere
in the world probably does not exceed 150. Five of these
scarce jackets are in the Wray collection, most with matching
trousers, in addition to nine officers’ uniforms, including a
frock coat believed to have been worn by John McIntosh Kell of
the CSS Alabama. Nearly all of these
uniforms have firm personal attributions with extensive biographical
research files.
There Are Also
Nine Confederate Caps or Hats
in this collection, including four enlisted kepis/forage caps.
Accoutrements, including at least thirty leather items, fifteen
canteens, and forty-five linen gun slings, round out the story of
Confederate manufacturing as told through this collection.
The Acquisition of
the Wray Collection would enable the AHC to
dramatically expand the educational impact of Turning Point:
The American Civil War,
its award-winning
permanent
exhibition.
The Many
Scarce or One-of-a-Kind Artifacts in the Collection
have never before been available for public viewing or research.
Objects
of this importance are simply no longer available on the collectors’
market and have long since disappeared from family attics.
If the collection were to be dispersed through auction, most
of it would disappear
into private vaults, so the public would never see these priceless
artifacts again. The collection would be impossible to replicate
regardless of financial resources available. As stewards
of history, the AHC cannot allow this collection
to be lost to the winds of time.
The Collection Needs Our Support. Your
gift in support of the acquisition of the Wray Collection is not
only an investment in the educational mission of the Atlanta History
Center, but an investment in the future of a nation who can
honor the past without repeating its mistakes.
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Georgia 30258
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