Disability Presented New Challenges
By Elizabeth A. Topping When we think of people with physical disabilities during the Civil War period, we tend to bring to mind images of soldiers. Surgeons performed a staggering
Category: The Citizenry
Birth of the American Calisthenics Movement
By Elizabeth A. Topping, featuring images and artifacts from the the author’s collection. Calisthenics were introduced to Americans by Europeans in the 1830s. Light, choreographed movements set to music exercised
Albany Army Relief Bazaar Participants
By Elizabeth A. Topping According to an inscription on the back of this carte de visite, these girls participated in the Army Relief Bazaar held at Albany, N.Y. The hugely
Terror
A Ku Klux member, disguised to conceal his identity and intimidate citizens, stands against a backdrop painting of a tranquil scene. The gun he carries adds to his menacing look.
A Well-Traveled Image
Apencil inscription on the back of this carte de visite tells the tale of a journey that crisscrossed the country. The individual who made the notation, identified only by the
Symbol of Remembrance: The Vacant Chair
By Elizabeth A. Topping, with images from the author’s collection These images memorialize someone no longer there; someone whom these women loved. Their downcast gazes at the physical absence represented
The Gift of a Portrait From a Teenaged Daughter to a Soldier-Father
Less than a week before Christmas 1863, Martha Naomi Wilcox inscribed a photograph to her father away at war. The careful, halting cursive script belied her 14 years. Martha’s father,
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
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