World History: Civil War stories on display at Henry Ford Museum in the United States

To mark 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the Henry Ford Museum will launch its "Discovering the Civil War" gallery. The extensive exhibit is composed of letters, photos, petitions, receipts and artifacts from the Civil War holdings of the National Archives.

The 6,000-square-foot gallery features touch-screen interactives, enlarged copies of documents and videos. The gallery opens to the public May 19 and runs through Sept. 5 2011.

Among the artifacts will be the original Emancipation Proclamation. Issued by President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of the bloody Civil War, the emancipation declared all persons held as slaves were free.

In addition, the original copy of the final 13th Amendment will be on display next to the Emancipation Proclamation. Ratified by the states on Dec. 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery.

Passing over the traditional chronological approach, the exhibit tells the story of the war in 12 themes. Within the themes, guests will discover artifacts such as a telegram from a Southern governor rejecting Lincoln's call for troops, and the original Louisiana ordinance of secession.

The exhibit will highlight "everyday people of the war". One panel tells the story of Sarah Emma Edmonds Seelye, a Michigan woman who portrayed herself as a man so she could fight in the war. Others tell the stories of women on the home front and the experiences of African-Americans in the war.