Rhea Combs Knihy

What if the person you loved was on another planet?

This stunning collection features stoic portraits and intimate ephemera from the lives of Black Civil War soldiers. Initially excluded from both Union and Confederate armies, many African American men ultimately served. The era also marked the rise of photography, making the Civil War the first extensively documented conflict through this medium. The author explores photography's vital role in reshaping African American narratives of the war, drawing from a largely unacknowledged visual archive. With over seventy images, the collection includes a wealth of primary and archival materials, many rarely reproduced, accompanied by handwritten captions, letters, and personal documents. The work delves into the lives of black Union soldiers and highlights the stories of others involved, such as left-behind family members and female spies. This captivating memoir intertwines photographs and words to address themes of love, longing, responsibility, fear, commitment, patriotism, and African American resilience. The collection offers an intimate portrait of the African American experience from the Civil War's onset to 1900, emphasizing the significance of African American communities in the war's development. It illustrates how photography shaped a national vision of blackness and bondage while uncovering the hidden histories of these soldiers, prompting reflection on their struggles for citizenship and remembrance.

What freedom looked like for black Americans in the Civil War era