Antique Way

The History Photographs of The United States

The black-and-white photographs of the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection are a landmark in the history of documentary photography. The images show Americans at home, at work, and at play, with an emphasis on rural and small-town life and the adverse effects of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and increasing farm mechanization.

Some of the most famous images portray people who were displaced from farms and migrated West or to industrial cities in search of work. In its latter years, the project documented America's mobilization for World War II. The collection includes about 164,000 black-and-white negatives; this release provides access to over 160,000 of these images. The FSA-OWI photographers also produced about 1600 color photographs. Two illustrated lists of frequently requested images from the FSA-OWI Collection, "'Migrant Mother' Photographs" and "Photographs of Signs Enforcing Racial Discrimination", are also available from the Prints and Photographs Reading Room.

The Selected Civil War Photographs Collection contains 1,118 photographs. Most of the images were made under the supervision of Mathew B. Brady, and include scenes of military personnel, preparations for battle, and battle after-effects. The collection also includes portraits of both Confederate and Union officers, and a selection of enlisted men.

An additional two hundred autographed portraits of army and navy officers, politicians, and cultural figures can be seen in the Civil War photograph album, ca. 1861-65. (James Wadsworth Family Papers). The full album pages are displayed as well as the front and verso of each carte de visite, revealing studio logos, addresses, and other imprint information on the approximately twenty photographers represented in the album.

The mission of the Library of Congress is to make its resources available and useful to Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations. The goal of the Library's National Digital Library Program is to offer broad public access to a wide range of historical and cultural documents as a contribution to education and lifelong learning. The Library of Congress presents these documents as part of the record of the past. These primary historical documents reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times. The Library of Congress does not endorse the views expressed in these collections, which may contain materials offensive to some readers.

Timeline of The Civil War Other Photographs

Charleston, South Carolina -- 1863-1865

General Gillmore's success at Fort Pulaski earned him a much more difficult undertaking: the reduction of the defenses of Charleston Harbor, with the aid of a squadron under Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren. Operations began early in July 1863; by October hard work and heavy losses had reduced Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg (renamed Fort Putnam by the federals) on Morris Island, and had silenced Fort Sumter. But no further progress was made until February 18, 1865, when General William T. Sherman's approach overland brought about the evacuation of Charleston. The photographers who came to record the flag-raising ceremony at Fort Sumter on April 14, 1865, just four years after the surrender with which the Civil War opened, thoroughly documented the forts, federal and Confederate, and the lovely old city, which fortunately had suffered only limited damage. Present-day addresses for the Charleston buildings are added where possible; the movement is in general inland from the Battery along Market Street, with excursions down side streets as they are reached, and left to the Arsenal at what were then the city limits.

Florida

Federal invaders occupied Jacksonville and other points on the east coast of Florida in March 1862, but the main federal attempt in this area was made in February 1864, and came to grief at the Battle of Olustee. The photographs reflect only the fact of Union occupation.

The Capital at War

As the war lengthened, Washington became the center of the increasingly complex prosecution of the war, as well as a vast depot and medical center for the Eastern armies. Although the local photographers realized early that there was much worth recording on their own doorsteps, most of these views are from the last year of the war or even after its close. Locations employing present-day directions are given where possible.

Alexandria, Virginia

These views show Alexandria, under federal occupation since May 24, 1861, when Colonel E. E. Ellsworth of the New York Fire Zouaves met his death at the Marshall House (No. 752) -- the first conspicuous casualty of the war.

The U. S. Sanitary and Christian Commissions

The government-appointed Sanitary Commission and its large staff channeled and guided the efforts of more than 7,000 local societies for the maintenance of military health and the relief of wounded and sick soldiers. The Christian Commission, arising out of a convention of Y.M.C.A.'s, focused primarily on the spiritual health of the soldiers, but was naturally drawn into a the administration of material relief. The Sanitary Commission transferred its central office to Washington; the Christian Commission maintained only a branch there, with its central office in New York.