America’s First Sex Symbol
By Elizabeth A. Topping, with images from the author’s collection Actress and poet Adah Isaacs Menken’s extraordinary beauty provided Americans with a pleasant distraction during the Civil War years. Her
Category: The Citizenry
A Forgotten “Veteran” Remembered
By Ross J. Kelbaugh In the pre-internet era, dealers in early photography often sold images through fixed-price print catalogs or by mail, fax or phone auctions. In one such auction
La Fille du Régiment
The outbreak of war in 1861 brought an unprecedented mobilization of volunteers for military service. In population centers across the divided nation, civic leaders organized regiments composed of able-bodied patriotic
Heroines of the Hearth
By Elizabeth A. Topping The versatility and resourcefulness of women were never more challenged than during the American Civil War. Nearly all women were affected in some way. Some leapt
In Plain Sight
By Alison Renner Sarah Humphrey Bustill’s name is not in the annals of the Underground Railroad. Yet, she had a direct link to it through her husband, Joseph Cassey Bustill,
Sue Tarleton’s Joy and Sorrow
History chiefly remembers Patrick Ronayne Cleburne for his generalship—the Stonewall of the West—and his call to free enslaved people and arm them to fight for the Confederacy. Few recall the
Free at Last
By Ross J. Kelbaugh In the 1860 U.S. Census, Louisiana enumerated 331,726 Black and mulatto enslaved persons and 18,647 free colored individuals. With the occupation of the state by the
Author of a Southern Anthem
The Confederate States of America did not have an official anthem. However, several songs popularized during its four years in existence stirred the soul of the fledgling nation. The playlist
A Capitol Policeman Inside the Dome
Policeman John Patterson Gulick sits in the infrastructure of the U.S. Capitol dome with an open book on his knee and an arm resting on a worktable. On and around
Palms of Victory
Mary Dines made her way to the front of a gathering at a Freedmen’s camp in Washington, D.C., her knees nervously shaking. She joined her fellow inhabitants, all dressed in