Finding the Identities of a Mystery Civil War Couple
By Kurt Luther Portraits of Civil War couples have long captivated me. They capture a fleeting moment of togetherness, a quiet counterpoint to the distant bugles and battles. We see
Category: Photo Sleuth
A Guide to Exploring Photo Sleuthing and Generative AI
By Kurt Luther Artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be everywhere lately–in the news, on our phones, in schools and workplaces. Civil War photo sleuthing is no exception. AI has been
Mistaken Identity and Fame Fixation
By Kurt Luther Ann Shumard, Senior Curator of Photographs at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, reached out to me with a question about a possible misidentification. A glass plate negative
Applying the “Trinity” to ID Some Faces in a 557-Image Album in the National Archives
By Kurt Luther Civil War photo sleuthing is more than just giving a name to an unidentified soldier or sailor portrait. While a name is a critical clue in rediscovering
Identifying a USCT Officer Connected to Two Pioneering Civil War Women
By Kurt Luther When MI Senior Editor Rick Carlile approached me to help identify a carte de visite of a seemingly unremarkable Union officer, I did not expect that this
How to Discover Soldier Photos from a Specific Civil War Battle
By Kurt Luther How can we find photos of Civil War soldiers connected to a particular battle? Earlier this summer, I was confronted with this question when Emma Nostheide, a
Oscar F. Douglas: The Photographer Behind the Iconic USCT Drummer Boy
By Kurt Luther The pair of cartes de visite of a young African American boy transformed from a runaway slave into a Union drummer boy are among the most memorable
Photo Sleuthing Some Virginia Tech Cadet Portraits
By Kurt Luther In past columns, we often focused on identifying Civil War soldier photos. However, military images are a much broader genre, and one type of portrait that has
Case Study: Backdrop Explorer
By Kurt Luther When photo sleuths hit a brick wall trying to identify the subject of a Civil War portrait, they often turn from the foreground to the background, using
Finding the Face of Fort Craig’s Namesake
By Kurt Luther During the Civil War years, the Washington, D.C., area was surrounded by a ring of 68 US Army forts known today as the Civil War Defenses of