Bag containing a piece of brick from Fort Sumter owned by Marquis Peterson: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A cotton bag (2017.78.2a) containing a piece of brick (2017.78.2b) from Fort Sumter owned by Marquis Peterson. The bag is brownish white and has a braided drawstring at top. Hand written in black ink on the front of the bag is “THIS ROCK / WAS FROM / FT. SUMTER / M. PETERSON / 55 MVI.” The brick is reddish brown and is flat on the top and bottom. The four sides are irregular in shape and rough. The brick piece has several cracks throughout.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: late 19th century
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Owned by: Marquis Peterson, American, 1832 - 1896
• Subject of: 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, American, 1863 - 1865
• Type: blocks (shaped masses)
• Type: bags (containers)
• Medium: cotton (fiber), brick
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2017.78.2a (bag)): 5 1/2 × 3 1/2 × 7/8 in. (14 × 8.9 × 2.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2017.78.2b (brick)): 1 7/8 × 1 5/8 × 3/4 in. (4.8 × 4.1 × 1.9 cm)
• Place collected: Fort Sumter, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Free communities of color
• Topic: Military
• Topic: U.S. History, Civil War, 1861-1865
• Topic: United States Colored Troops
• Object number: 2017.78.2ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.