Civil War Photography — Twenty-Six Major Collections
Search across 26 major Civil War photograph repositories — including the Library of Congress,
National Archives, American Civil War Museum, Duke University, SMU Libraries, Library Company
of Philadelphia, New York Public Library, USMA West Point Archives, and more.
Collections span glass plate negatives, ambrotypes, tintypes, cartes de visite, stereoscopes,
daguerreotypes, field sketches, and documentary albums from 1846 to 1919.
13 Collections
Civil War Photography Collection (LOC)
All Library of Congress Civil War holdings in one place — glass plate negatives, Liljenquist portraits, Russell photographs, Gardner's Sketch Book, Civil War drawings, the Gladstone collection, Brady-Handy, Robin Stanford stereo views, and three LOC Flickr albums.
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~7,000
Civil War Glass Negatives
Original glass plate negatives made under the supervision of Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner, 1861–1865. The Anthony-Taylor-Rand-Ordway-Eaton Collection, purchased by the Library of Congress in 1943. Searchable live via the LOC Prints & Photographs API.
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8,619
Liljenquist Family Collection
Ambrotypes, tintypes, and cartes de visite of Union and Confederate soldiers. Donated to the Library by the Liljenquist family.
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7,000+
American Civil War Museum
Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, and cartes-de-visite from the ACWM in Richmond, Virginia — including the Confederate Memorial Literary Society collection. Searchable by keyword, people, creator, and subject via PastPerfect Online.
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~200
Andrew J. Russell Photographs
The first U.S. Army photographer documented railroad operations, military facilities, and the Virginia theater.
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800+
New York Heritage — Civil War Treasures
731 Civil War stereographs plus photographs and ephemera from 12 archival collections at the New-York Historical Society, hosted on CONTENTdm.
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500+
New York Public Library Digital Collections
Includes the Robert N. Dennis collection of 476 Civil War stereo views and Gardner's Gallery stereo views — free high-resolution downloads of all public domain material.
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100
Photographic Sketch Book of the Civil War
Alexander Gardner's landmark 100-photograph album — major sites of conflict in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
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1,600+
Civil War Drawings
Field sketches by Waud, Forbes, and other "Special Artists" who drew for the nation's illustrated newspapers.
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200+
Gladstone Collection — African American Photographs
William A. Gladstone's collection documenting African American soldiers, sailors, and civilians from 1861 to 1919.
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6,000+
Brady Photographs — National Archives
Mathew Brady's 6,000-negative collection purchased by the U.S. government in 1875. Available via the NARA catalog and their Flickr photostream.
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2 Complete Albums
Barnard and Gardner Civil War Photographs — Duke University
Complete digitized editions of Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book and Barnard's Photographic Views of Sherman's Campaign (both 1866) — two of the most celebrated albums in Civil War photography, from Duke's Rubenstein Library.
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Albums
Huntington Digital Library
Civil War photograph albums from the Huntington Library in San Marino, California — one of the premier American research libraries. Searchable through the Huntington's CONTENTdm digital portal.
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100+
LCDL — Port Royal Stereoscopes
Civil War and Reconstruction Era stereoscope photographs of the Port Royal Region from the College of Charleston Digital Library.
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150+
Library Company of Philadelphia — Civil War Photographs
Stereographs and cartes de visite by Brady, Barnard & Gibson, Gardner, and Levy & Cohen — plus the Levy & Cohen "Views of the Rebel Capital" series and rare Philadelphia home-front documentation.
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Online
Massachusetts Collections Online
The Medford Historical Society Civil War Photograph Collection on Digital Commonwealth — Massachusetts's statewide digital library.
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9,000+
National Archives — Civil War Still Pictures
NARA's full Civil War still pictures collection at Archives II — Brady, Barnard, Cooley stereoviews, and contract photographer images.
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NGA
National Gallery of Art — Kelbaugh Collection
The Ross J. Kelbaugh Collection at the National Gallery of Art — a leading Civil War photography authority's assembled originals and stereoviews.
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Civil War
SMU Libraries — Civil War Collection
Southern Methodist University's DeGolyer Library Civil War photographs, including Texas Confederate units and the western theater.
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Uniforms
U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum
The Willard Brothers Uniform Photograph Collection — primary source photographs of Civil War uniforms and accoutrements at Fort Lee, Virginia.
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Archives · MSS · Special Collections
USMA Library Archives & Special Collections
West Point trained the generals who commanded both armies. ASC holds cadet records, personal papers, photographs, and manuscripts of USMA graduates — Grant, Sherman, Lee, Jackson, Custer, and hundreds more.
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VMHC
Virginia Museum of History & Culture
One of the nation's most comprehensive collections of Virginia and Confederate history — weapons, uniforms, flags, and photographs from Richmond's wartime capital.
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Growing
CCWP Digital Archive (Flickr)
Rare and significant Civil War photographs curated by members of the Center for Civil War Photography — the premier professional organization for Civil War photography scholars and collectors.
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3,700+
Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History
More than 3,700 Civil War photographs capturing battlefields and personal portraits. Low-resolution thumbnails freely browsable; fee for full access and reproduction rights.
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2,500
New York State Military Museum — Civil War CDV Collection
About 2,500 cartes de visite of identified New York Volunteers — searchable by name or regiment at NYHeritage. One of the largest searchable collections of identified Civil War portraits.
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