Top of page

Category: Civil War

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

African-American History Month: Happy Birthday, Frederick Douglass!

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Douglass, and this month is African-American History Month. To celebrate, we are highlighting favorite items from the Library’s collections. This post is reprinted from “Building Black History,” the January–February issue of LCM, the Library of Congress Magazine, available in its entirety online.   This …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Inquiring Minds: Digital Artist Gives New Life to Historical Scenes and People

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

Marina Amaral was studying international relations at the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, when she first tried her hand at digitally colorizing a historical photograph. She had no formal background in art or photography, but since childhood she had enjoyed working with Photoshop in her free time. One day, while not feeling terribly …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

New Online: Abraham Lincoln Papers

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This is a guest post by Michelle Krowl, a historian in the Manuscript Division. Regular visitors to the Library of Congress website may be scratching their heads right now, thinking, “Aren’t the Abraham Lincoln Papers already online?” It is true that the bulk of the Abraham Lincoln Papers have long been available through the Library’s …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Free to Use and Reuse: The Story of Abraham Lincoln

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

Last week, the Library announced a new online presentation of Abraham Lincoln’s papers from his time as a lawyer, congressman and the 16th president. The refreshed digital collection follows a multiyear project to update the Library’s previous presentation with additional features, full-color images and new material. To celebrate, we’re highlighting items from the Library’s vast …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

New Online: Ulysses S. Grant Papers

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This is a guest post by Michelle Krowl, a historian in the Manuscript Division. On May 17, 1877, former president Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia departed from Philadelphia on an extended trip. Other former presidents traveled after retiring from public office, but none journeyed as far as Grant did. He and Julia spent …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Free to Use and Reuse: Adolph Metzner Civil War Drawings

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This is a guest post by Julie Stoner, a reference librarian in the Geography and Map Division. It was first published on “Picture This,” the Prints and Photographs Division’s blog. We’re highlighting the subject of Stoner’s post—Civil War drawings by Adolph Metzner—in our “free to use and reuse” feature on the Library’s home page. The …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

New Online: Mary Ann “Mother” Bickerdyke’s Papers

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This is a guest post by Michelle Krowl, a historian in the Manuscript Division. During the Civil War, thousands of Union soldiers in the Western Theater affectionately called Mary Ann Bickerdyke (1817–1901) “Mother” for the tender maternal care she provided as a nurse and relief worker with the United States Sanitary Commission. Bickerdyke’s papers at …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Civil War Diary: “This Hell-Upon-Earth of a Prison”

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This is a guest post by Michelle Krowl, a historian in the Manuscript Division, about the experience of Samuel J. Gibson, a Union soldier who was incarcerated in the Confederate military prison in Andersonville, Georgia. He arrived on May 3, 1864—153 years ago today—and his diary is now available online. “I don’t know for whom …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

New Online: Iconic Recordings, Presidential Papers and a Civil War Diary

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

The following is a guest post by William Kellum, manager in the Library’s Web Services Division.  Since the last installment in this blog series, published in mid-March, quite a few new offerings have been added to the Library’s website. Women’s History Month March was Women’s History Month, and we updated the site we maintain in collaboration …