• CASE 1—WHAT IF...?

• CASE 2 —PHOTOGRAPHY ARRIVES

• CASE 3—VISIBLE REMNANTS

• CASE 4 —ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE PAST

• CASE 5—PEELING BACK THE LAYERS

• CASE 6—TIMELESS ACTIVITIES

• CASE 7 —ENCROACHMENT OF URBANIZATION

• CASE 8 —COLONIAL SITES DURING THE CIVIL WAR

• CASE 9—EVOLUTION OF HISTORIC SITES

• CASE 10 —RESTORATIONS

• CASE 11—RE-ENACTMENTS

• CASE 12 —HENRY WHEELER'S EYE PT. I

• CASE 13—HENRY WHEELER'S EYE PT. II

• CASE 14 —HENRY WHEELER'S EYE PT. III

• CASE 15 —HENRY WHEELER'S EYE PT. IV

• CASE 16—DOCUMENTING OF CONDITION

• COLONIAL AMERICANA TODAY

• EXHIBITS PAGE

• CLEMENTS LIBRARY

Colonial Photography—Viewfinder on the Past

Colonial Sites Become Civil War Battlefields

The most famous American 19th century photographers were those who documented the Civil War. The best known photographer of his day, Mathew Brady, thought of himself as a historian with a camera, capturing the epic events and notable public figures of his era. Brady and the other photographers documenting the Civil War also photographed the condition of the existing colonial sites caught in the crossfire. It did not escape the notice of these photographers that the runaway events of the war had no regard for the value of the colonial landscape.

John Wood and James Gibson. Moore House. Albumen print. 1862. From: Alexander Gardner. Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War. Volume 1. Philip & Solomons, Washington, D.C. The Moore House, near Yorktown, was the site of negotiations resulting in the capitulation of Cornwallis in 1781 and the eventual end of the Revolutionary War. It was reported to have been in excellent condition in 1860 but clearly has suffered from the war. The Civil War photographs of the Moore House, still standing today, were valuable references during its restoration.

Case 8

 

Richmond, Virginia. Albumen print. Ca. 1865. Across the James River in Richmond, on the far right of this image, stood mills dating to colonial times. Built upon property that was originally owned by William Byrd in the 1730s and having survived the violence of the Civil War, the mills would eventually disappear to urban progress.

 

Timothy H. O' Sullivan. Blandford Church, Petersburg, Virginia. Albumen print. 186-5. From: Alexander Gardner. Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War. Volume 1. Philip & Solomons, Washington, D.C. Blandford Church opened in 1735. The burial ground contains graves of veterans of the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. Damaged during the war, Blandford Church was renovated during the late 19th century, with the installation of modern stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The Civil War photos are of interest to historians of colonial America because they record the state of the building prior to these modernizations.

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