Artifacts from Arkansas parish reveal work of nuns during Civil War

FORT SMITH, Ark. (CNS) -- When the Immaculate Conception Church Ladies' Auxiliary decided to do some landscaping on the parish grounds three years ago, they had no idea what they would dig up. "While we were planting the flowers, we discovered some items buried by the chimney," auxiliary member Joyce Cokely said. The chimney, along with a fireplace, is all that remains of an 1800s "weather-boarded log house," called St. Anne's Building, on the parish grounds. In 2005, a team led by the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville conducted a weeklong excavation, uncovering thousands of artifacts at the site, all from the period 1853 to 1905. The artifacts were first displayed at Fort Smith's Frontier Fest last fall and many hope they can eventually be put on permanent display. The recovered artifacts bear witness to the order's medical ministry during the Civil War. There are many bottles of patent medicine, whitening and bluing agents and a washboard. A number of rosaries and crucifixes were recovered, along with part of a cast-iron prayer kneeler.