George and Charles King write:
O.K. everybody, all of us may have just saved a one-of-a-kind Civil War coat for the nation! With an amazing new on-line contribution in the last 24 hours for $1000 the fundraising for the restoration itself (if not the final display box) has come to a close!
We have raised $4000!
We hoped to have the coat fixed by the time we were in Gloucester High School. Thanks to everyone who worked towards this goal, the fundraising for the repairs has been completed before we’ve even graduated sixth grade!
A possible location for the coat that we like in the High School will be in front of this double display you can see in the photograph below and attached. The initial estimate to repair and mount the coat was $3500, but that was before we got involved. That $3500 was for a two-dimensional skinny archival display case.
We hope the coat will be freestanding within a museum quality display case that we can walk around and see from all directions. That makes the estimate bigger because the case is bigger. If it’s freestanding we may not need a hand crank. Our mom is pricing the cases (they need to be special UV plexi and other stuff). You can see examples of what they might look likehere. Some of them breakdown for travel.
The big clear display box will be mounted on top of a wooden cabinet. We were excited to see an example of a beautiful cabinet created by the GHS wood shop! Maybe they could do the pedestal for the case. See the close up photograph we took on the day that Caroline Enos interviewed us for The Gillnetter.
Please share our letter to the president on Facebook and everywhere for us, because we would like to know if there is another coat out there like this one. His friend was given one, too, so there may be another one. We think that it just might be the only one in the whole country and we want people to know about the Gloucester Civil War coat that was given by a slave to Albert Bacheler after escaping Libby prison to safety. He kept the coat to teach generations of Gloucester students. Also, President Obama could give us a great quote for the coat.
You can see your quotes for the coats and other information on the youcaring site. Thank you everybody, all the coat supporters, and the news –Good Morning Gloucester, Cape Ann Beacon, Bay State Banner, Gloucester Daily Times, and The Gillnetter– for spreading the story and helping save this coat.
Surprised and grateful,
Charles King and George King
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEXFIjLjysy/
See More Photos Here
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Good Morning Gloucester 
Congratulations
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Excellent all the way around! 🙂 Dave & Kim 🙂
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Well done!
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