As the Civil War and Reconstruction specialist in the Manuscript Division, my primary responsibilities are helping to expand our collections and make them accessible to the public.
What can a flag tell us about the people who marched behind it? We recently rediscovered these regimental flags from the Library's online collections and were struck by the vivid imagery and mottoes. We did a little research on the flags – and the artist behind them – and decided to highlight them during African American History Month in February.