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Go directly to the collection, Civil War Treasures, in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection.

• Graphic Arts: Analyzing Symbols |
• Photographs and Sketches: Portraying War in the 19th Century |
• Journalism: Creating a Prison Camp Newspaper |
• Letters: Consoling Families of the Dead |
• Analyzing Poetry

Journalism: Creating a Prison Camp Newspaper

Read Prison Times, a newspaper published by Confederate prisoners of war at Fort Delaware prison camp in April 1865.

• What kinds of services were advertised in the paper? Do you think these were real services available in the prison camp? Why or why not?
• What topics did the newspaper cover? Based on these topics, who do you think the audience for the newspaper was?
• Look for evidence of humor in the newspaper. Why might humor be important to prisoners of war?
• What can you learn about life in the prison camp from the newspaper?

Using Prison Times as a model, compose with your classmates a newspaper with similar types of articles from the perspective of Confederate or Union prisoners of war. You may also want to use the Point Lookout sketches to gather more information about life as a prisoner of war; some of these sketches could even be used to illustrate your newspaper.