In the Bowels of Hell at Antietam
By Scott Valentine When William Estes Hacker regained consciousness after a bullet knocked him off his feet at Antietam, he became aware of the appalling human carnage around him. The
Tag: philadelphia
Oscar F. Douglas: The Photographer Behind the Iconic USCT Drummer Boy
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
Team Frailey on the Quaker City
Leonard August Frailey’s first gig as a naval officer was a plum assignment. In August 1864, authorities dispatched the newly minted acting assistant paymaster to the sidewheel steamer Quaker City.
The Mnemonical Anatomy Professor
Tall, slow-speaking William Henry Gobrecht looked every inch the soldier and might easily be confused for a general. His commanding bearing came not from battlefield glory, but lecture halls where
Non-Traditional Research Tools—and Serendipity
By Kurt Luther Photo sleuthing fundamentally pieces together bits of evidence to build a theory. For especially tricky images, these pieces of the puzzle may come from a wide variety
Revealed: The Identity of an Officer in an Iconic Group Portrait
By Kurt Luther As photo sleuths, many of us spend significant time working with relatively obscure images. We may stumble across a loose tintype at a flea market or unearth