Autumn 2024 Issue Highlights
Two years ago, I visited collector Al Niemiec in the Chicago suburbs. I had met Al in person once before for coffee, and since then we corresponded from time to
Tag: photo sleuth
The Spring 2024 Issue
Two years ago at the Chesapeake Postcard Fair & Civil War Photography Show in Havre de Grace, Md., I struck up a conversation with collector Jonathan Beasley. I soon learned
Civil War Photo Sleuth Goes Social
By Kurt Luther One of the most remarkable attributes of the Civil War photo sleuthing community is the willingness of its members to help one another. In a previous column
Hampton’s Battery at Gettysburg and Puerto Rico
By Kurt Luther In April of this year, the Facebook page “Civil War Pittsburgh,” managed by public historian Rich Condon, posted an intriguing photo of a group of Civil War
Investigating the Iconic Portraits of a USCT Drummer Boy
By Kurt Luther The pair of portraits of an African American young man—one version in tattered clothes and another in the uniform of a Union drummer boy—is among the most
How to Trust the Worthiness of an Identification
By Kurt Luther What makes a Civil War photo identification truly airtight? If a soldier portrait is unidentified, we often consider the gold standard as locating an identical (or very
Lost and Found in the Library of Congress
By Kurt Luther In January 2020, John Banks posted on his Civil War blog a detailed examination of a glass negative in the Library of Congress (LOC) collection, titled, “Washington,
Why Photo Sleuths Do—and Don’t—Share With the Community
By Kurt Luther In these columns, I frequently emphasize the importance of community in Civil War photo sleuthing. Most of us benefit from the resources freely shared by other members
Evidence-Based Tips for Using Civil War Photo Sleuth
By Kurt Luther Photo sleuthing is, at its core, a process of elimination. We start with a mystery photo whose subject could be any of the three million soldiers who
Second Opinion
By Kurt Luther In my last column, I presented some initial facts and figures showing that Civil War Photo Sleuth (CWPS), our free website for identifying unknown soldiers in photos,