Past Exhibitions

Camp Douglas: Chicago’s Forgotten Civil War Story

Camp Douglas was the largest military installation in Illinois and the most significant physical facility in Chicago during the US Civil War. The camp was one of the largest and longest-operating Union prison camps, comprising 60 acres of land and over 200 buildings. Camp Douglas was located between 31^st Street and 33^rd Place, Cottage Grove Avenue, and Giles Avenue on the Near South Side of Chicago. The camp operated between 1861 and 1865, receiving and training nearly 40,000 Union soldiers, including African American troops. From 1862 through 1865, the camp served as a prison camp housing nearly 30,000 Confederate prisoners during that time. Most of the last prisoners were gone by July 1865, and the camp was completely razed by December 1865. This pop-up exhibit is sponsored by the Loyola History Department, LUMA, and the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation. It was made possible by a grant from the National Park Service.