News

Kiosk searches for Civil War soldiers

July 30, 2012

The Fort Delaware Society has installed an interactive touchscreen kiosk in the Sutler Shop at Fort Delaware in Delaware City, Del., to help visitors look for soldiers who may have been at the fort during the Civil War.

The kiosk contains 41,000 records of Confederate POWs and Union Soldiers who were at Fort Delaware during the war. The kiosk was designed and built by Kionetics, based in Newark, N.J., and made possible by a grant from the Crystal Trust, according to an announcement from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

The records originally were transcribed from National Archives microfiche of handwritten records onto index cards. The information contained on each card was copied to a computer database by the Fort Delaware Society, assisted by volunteers from MBNA.

With the information computerized, visitors are now able to type in the last name of an ancestor that they believe was at Fort Delaware during the Civil War. If a record is found, the individual's rank, regiment and company, along with any other information contained in the Society's records, will be displayed. The visitor can fill out a form to request that the information be sent to them.

"The kiosk is an excellent way for the Society to fulfill its mission: to foster an awareness of the existence and significance of historic Fort Delaware and preserve its legacy," said Fort Delaware Society President Catherine C. Keenan in the announcement.

Read more about information kiosks.