Intimate Letters from Elmhurst Family During Civil War on Display at Historical Museum

Typically, a link wouldn’t be made between Elmhurst and the American Civil War, which is exactly why next week’s opening of the Letters From Home exhibit at the is so extraordinary.

The Letters from Home exhibit features 29 letters written by the Fischer family, who farmed on the north side of Elmhurst in unincorporated DuPage County near Grand Avenue and Church Street, while two of their sons, Frederick and Augustus, served in separate camps during the Civil War.

The exhibit Museum Director Lance Tawzer refers to as a “hybrid” is not a typical Civil War exhibit that features “rusty things in old cases” and lots of descriptions of bloody battles, he said.

“Really, what you’re going to find there is more human family drama," Tawzer said.

The final product is 29 letters presented more than 150 years after they were penned against the colorful and vibrant backdrop of contemporary artwork created by local artists. A dramatic reading of the letters by members of Elmhurst’s Greenman Theatre Troupe adds to the unique experience for museum-goers.

A Local ‘Love Fest’ of Collaboration

“Karen [Exiner] told me the Elmhurst Artists Guild had expressed interest in doing something about the Civil War, but the artist gallery (at the Art Museum) was booked up through this year, so they weren’t able to do it over there,” Tawzer said.

Normally, the finds its home at the , where one of the galleries is always devoted to local artists.

“We have a first-class art museum in town, so I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes there,” Tawzer said.

Still, he and Guild member Karen Exiner had been looking for an opportunity to collaborate somehow. The Civil War exhibit, including photography from the traveling exhibit Between the States from the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, presented the perfect opportunity.

Tawzer suggested that the letters might provide some inspiration for a collection of artwork. Exiner wholeheartedly agreed.

Tawzer provided copies of the letters to the artists so they could read through them and pick out specific letters or even phrases or paragraphs that inspired them.

“Then Lance came up with a great idea,” Exiner said. “He asked [the artists] to send the sentences of the letters that inspire the paintings. He contacted the GreenMan Theatre Troupe of Elmhurst to record those sentences. It’s like a love fest!”

Cory Sandrock, who was director for GreenMan’s role in the project, said his actors jumped at the opportunity to narrate the letters. Each of the west suburban actors plays the role of one of the letter writers. The recordings, produced at the Elmhurst College recording studio, will play for museum visitors as they work their way through the exhibit.

“All the letters are from the assorted Fischer family to Frederick Fischer, one of two sons serving in the Civil War,” Sandrock said. “The other brother, Augustus, writes to Frederick, too. One letter is from his 10-year-old sister. The rest of the brothers were either older and living in Elmhurst, or much younger and weren’t of fighting age yet.

Some of the letters are light and everyday, such as the sister’s letter that talks about the recent snowfall in Elmhurst and her plans to go ice skating.

But there is drama too—a reflection of the pain and sacrifice felt by families involved in war.

“There is a very sad letter where one of the brothers [in Elmhurst] has to write to Frederick to let him know that the other brother had just been killed in the Civil War,” Tawzer said.

“What you take away from the content of the letters is the regard they had for each other,” he said. “The formality with which they wrote back in the day is quite nice, but you’re talking about the father, Henry Fischer, who is an off-the-boat German immigrant. He would write, ‘Your affectionate father, H.D. Fischer.’ ”

The result is an exhibit that places a very national story in a local setting, while utilizing a wide array of local talent.

“We hope we’ve fostered a little community cultural partnership, which is something we haven’t had a lot of in my time,” he said. “Everybody has their own agenda, and I get that, but every once in a while, you get together and you do something mutually beneficial and rewarding in different ways.

“We’re in Elmhurst, Illinois, the northern part of a northern state,” Tawzer continued. “The Civil War doesn’t have the same kind of passionate draw as in some of the other southern states. We didn’t have any battles anywhere near us. But it touched so many people.

“So many people went off to war, and so many people did not come back. I think the human aspect is where it’s actually going to reach people. I’d like to think this is an angle people haven’t seen before.”

Letters from Home opens Tuesday, Sept. 27, at the Elmhurst Historical Museum in conjunction with the Between the States Civil War photography exhibit. Letters from Home is underwritten by Dr. David Pezen. Admission is free.