The Source
Mathew Brady Photographs of Civil War-Era Personalities and Scenes
By Michael K. Shaffer · Originally published August 2022 · p. 24
Brady search page. Mathew Brady: the man behind the men behind the lenses! During the Civil War Era, Mathew Brady, the preeminent photographer in the United States, trained many others in the art of capturing still images. After the war’s opening,
Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, and instructor, who remains a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, and the Georgia Association of Historians. Readers may contact him at [email protected] or request speaking engagements at www.civilwarhistorian. net. Follow Michael on Facebook, www.facebook.com/ michael.k.shaffer, and Twitter @ michaelkshaffer.
Brady’s disciples—George Barnard, Alexander Gardner, Timothy O’Sullivan, and others— visited various battle sites, captured images, and brought the war home to the American people. Noted individuals of the era – politicians, officers, orators, etc.—also sat in one of Brady’s studios. Now, researchers can search through the 6,071 images digitized and available at the National Archives. One should begin their search here: https://tinyurl.com/brayyhj2 (See screenshot above)
Combatants engaged in the Second Battle of Manassas one hundred sixty years ago. This event will serve as one example for searching the Brady collection. Select ‘Search within this series,’ as shown in the image above. A new window will open, and a search bar appears at the top left of the screen. Here, one can enter any search terms. Again, for Second Manassas, this writer used ‘Pope.” The search netted the following images (and more). In honor of Brady’s 200th birthday, spend time searching through the fantastic photographs in the National Archives collection. Researchers will also want to peruse the information at: https://historyhub.history.gov/ community/citizen-archivists/ blog/2022/06/03/photographingthe-civil-war-mathew-bradyat-200. Until next month, continued luck in researching the primary sources from the American Civil War!
Major General John Pope.