National Archives puts Civil War vaults on display

The National Archives is opening Washington's commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War by displaying seldom-seen documents and little known stories from its vaults.

Filmmaker Ken Burns helped open the most extensive Civil War exhibit the archives has assembled at a preview Tuesday. "Discovering the Civil War" opens to the public on Friday.

Visitors will see the original Virginia ordinance of secession, similarities between the Constitution of the Confederacy and the U.S. Constitution, and pension records for a woman who served in the Union Army disguised as a man, among other items.

The original Emancipation Proclamation is rarely shown, but it will be displayed for three days in November as part of the exhibit.