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
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
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
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
By Kurt Luther One of the most remarkable attributes of the Civil War photo sleuthing community is the willingness of its members to help one another. In a previous column
By Kurt Luther In April of this year, the Facebook page “Civil War Pittsburgh,” managed by public historian Rich Condon, posted an intriguing photo of a group of Civil War
By Kurt Luther The pair of portraits of an African American young man—one version in tattered clothes and another in the uniform of a Union drummer boy—is among the most
By Kurt Luther What makes a Civil War photo identification truly airtight? If a soldier portrait is unidentified, we often consider the gold standard as locating an identical (or very
By Kurt Luther In January 2020, John Banks posted on his Civil War blog a detailed examination of a glass negative in the Library of Congress (LOC) collection, titled, “Washington,
By Kurt Luther In these columns, I frequently emphasize the importance of community in Civil War photo sleuthing. Most of us benefit from the resources freely shared by other members
