Related Library of Congress Exhibitions

Resources for Teachers

Photography during the Civil War

Ambrotype and Tintype Processes

For basic definitions and reference sources, see Popular Photographic Print Processes Represented in the Prints and Photographs Division (Library of Congress website): //www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/589_intro.html

Burgess, Nathan G. The Photograph and Ambrotype Manual: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Taking Positive and Negative Photographs on Paper and Glass. . . . New York: Hubbard, Burgess, 1861. [Archive record (external link)]

Carlebach, Michael L. Occupational Portraits in the Age of Tintypes. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002.

Rinhart, Floyd, Marion Rinhart, and Robert W. Wagner. The American Tintype. Columbus: Ohio University Press, 1999.

Schimmelman, Janice G. The Tintype in America, 1856–1880. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 2007.

Wet Collodion Process (video). Los Angeles, California: J. Paul Getty Museum

Cases

Berg, Paul K. Nineteenth Century Photographic Cases and Wall Frames. [United States]: Paul K. Berg, 2003.

Rinhart, Floyd and Marion Rinhart. American Miniature Case Art. South Brunswick and New York: A.S. Barnes, 1969.

Civil War Online Resources at the Library of Congress

Uniforms

Katcher, Philip. Civil War Uniforms: A Photo Guide. London: Arms and Armour, 1996.

Lord, Francis A. Uniforms of the Civil War. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 2007.

Shaw, Antony, editor. The Civil War Catalog. Philadelphia: Courage Books, 2003.

Shep, R. L. and W. S. Salisbury. Civil War Gentlemen: 1860s Apparel Arts and Uniforms. Mendocino, California: R.L. Shep, ca. 1994.

Civil War Soldier Databases

American Civil War Research Database
http://www.civilwardata.com/
Subscription database that provides information about individuals, regiments, and battles of the American Civil War. The database contains indexed, searchable information on more than 4 million soldiers and thousands of battles, together with more than 17,000 photographs. The database also includes thousands of regimental rosters and officer profiles.

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System
http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss
Provided by the National Park Service, this database contains facts about both Union and Confederate soldiers.

For Younger Readers

Anderson, Dale. A Soldier’s Life in the Civil War. Milwaukee: World Almanac Library, 2004.

Smolinski, Diane. Soldiers of the Civil War. Chicago: Heinemann Library, Reed Educational and Professional Publishing, 2001.

Stanchak, John. Civil War. London: Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Books, 2000.

One Day Teacher Workshops

A cooperative endeavor between the Interpretive Programs Office and the Office of Strategic Initiatives, each workshop invites educators from across the country to learn about the U.S. Civil War based on Library of Congress primary and web based materials. Participants will leave with strategies and materials for use in their schools.

The Library of Congress has acquired an exceptional collection of approximately 700 ambrotype and tintype photographs of Union and Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War —nearly 400 will be displayed onsite from April 12, 2011 to August 13, 2011. Each workshop will use this exhibition, The Last Full Measure: Civil War Photographs from the Liljenquist Family Collection, as a foundation for critical inquiry.

Dates:

  • Friday, April 29, 2011; 9 am – 4 pm
  • Saturday, April 30, 2011; 9 am – 4 pm
  • Monday, May 2, 2011; 9 am – 4 pm
  • Friday, May 13, 2011; 9 am – 4 pm
  • Saturday, May 14, 2011; 9 am – 4pm