Series I: Newspaper Illustrations -- Civil War Era

This subseries is comprised of individual newspaper pages. The illustrations are arranged by subject, then by date. These single page tear sheets may have either one large illustration or several smaller illustrations, often showing more than one subject. When a page contains more than one subject, the most prominent image is used for arrangement.

Harper's Ferry Raid contains illustrations regarding the raid, the arrest of John Brown and his soldiers, as well as their execution.

Battle Views contains pictorial illustrations depicting various skirmishes, battles and campaigns throughout the Civil War. These images all show soldiers in action.

Naval Views contains illustrations of naval ships and battles, as well as images of harbors and of soldiers traveling by ship or boat.

Military Life includes illustrations of soldiers in non-combat situations. These include soldiers marching, voting, and recovering from battle, views of camp life and depictions of the daily lives of these men. These folders also contain images of military prisons, prison camps, and captured soldiers, as well as hospitals and wounded soldiers and their injuries.

Civilian Life is comprised of a variety of depictions of life outside the military during the civil war. These images show everything from starving refugees to winter recreation. There are also illustrations of crimes, criminals and trials, unrelated to the war. Illustrations regarding the Harper's Ferry Raid, John Brown's arrest & execution can also be found here.

U.S. Government contains images of politicians and political meetings.

Geographic View includes maps, birds-eye views and general views of the United States as well as other countries. This group also includes several images of statues and monuments.

Portraits contains drawn portraits of both military men and civilians. Included are "Missing Men" illustrations, portraits with a brief description of the persons last whereabouts, posted in the classified section of the newspapers.

Cartoons & Caricatures includes commentary on everything from the war to women's fashion. The majority of these cartoons were printed among classified ads, which also reflect the needs and interests of society, even in wartime.

Post Civil War Images is comprised of illustrations from newspapers published well after the Civil War's end. Several of these images are heroic depictions of the war. This group also contains images of Civil War veterans, with one image showing veterans reunited at the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Bull Run.

This subseries is comprised of illustrations spanning two full newspaper pages. The illustrations are arranged by subject, then by date. Because of their size, they are housed separately from the single sheets, in flat file drawers.

Significant illustrations in this series include a graphic depiction of Andersonville Prison (in Military Life), an allegorical image entitled Uprising of the North (in Battle Scenes), and a portrayal of the House of Representatives following the passage of the thirteenth amendment, abolishing slavery (in Civilian Life).