The William A. Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs provides almost 350 images showing African Americans and related military and social history. The Civil War era is the primary time period covered, with scattered examples through 1945. Most of the images are photographs, including 270 cartes de visite. For the list of approximately 100 different photographers, see the Creator/Related Names Index.

Subjects of special note include Sojourner Truth, fugitive slaves, former slave children from New Orleans, and freed slaves at Seabrook Plantation in South Carolina. Military service photographs document participation in the Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish American War, and World War I. Several photographs show Buffalo Soldiers, and one album is filled with portraits of officers of the 25th United States Colored Troops. Baseball is the theme for a group portrait from Danbury, CT, and a panoramic view of the 1924 Colored World Series opening game.

The Library of Congress purchased this collection from William A. Gladstone in 1995. Gladstone's distinctive ownership logo appears on the backs of many photographs.

Access Advisory: Use digital images. Original items served only by appointment because material requires special handling. For more information, see: www.loc.gov/rr/print/info/617_apptonly.html

Related material at the Library of Congress

• An estimated 500 hand-written documents are in the Manuscript Division as the "Afro-American Military Collection, 1773-1987 (bulk 1861-1865)," lccn.loc.gov/mm96083434.
• Civil War Photographs: Related Resources, www.loc.gov/collection/civil-war-glass-negatives/about-this-collection/related-resources/.
• Sources for Images on African American History www.loc.gov/rr/print/resource/063_afr.html.