Revisiting Rights-Free: U.S. Civil War Images

The Prints & Photographs Division’s U.S. Civil War collections are impressive, spanning a number of collections. Our core bodies of material related to the Civil War are conveniently featured in one place in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. Probably the best known collection of Civil War material in the division consists of original glass plate negatives made under the supervision of Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner, along with related prints. These images, numbering at about 7,000, provide vivid evidence not only of the horrors of war, but also of the logistics, technology, and sheer number of people who were required to support the Union’s ultimately successful effort. This photo shows members of Company “B” from the 170th N.Y. Infantry…