Discovering Civil War Ancestors Through Photography: Tips and Tools for Family Historians

The Photo Detective

This solo episode of the “Photo Detective” podcast delves into the intriguing task of discovering photographs of Civil War ancestors. Host Maureen offers a wealth of strategies and resources that not only cater to finding Civil War soldier images but also generalize to uncovering historical family photographs. Emphasizing the personal connections and untold stories each photo can reveal, she provides a comprehensive guide to enhancing your family history through visual documentation.

Key Points from the Episode:

• Networking with Relatives: Beyond immediate family, connect with distant relatives found through online family trees and DNA matches to explore their photo collections.
• Library of Congress: Utilize their extensive Civil War prints and photographs collection by searching specific names or military units at loc.gov.
• Civil War Photo Sleuth: This tool uses facial recognition to help identify unknown soldiers in Civil War-era photographs, enhancing research through a user-contributed database.
• Historical Societies and Archives: Local historical groups often have unique collections; the story of finding an ancestor’s photo through a Facebook group underscores the potential of such resources.
• Online Resources: Websites like Fold3.com and DeadFred.com offer extensive archives of Civil War images and other historical photographs, which can be searched by name, location, or unit.

Related Episodes:

Episode 32: The Man Behind DeadFred.com

Episode 24: The Civil War Photo Sleuth

Links:

• Download a list of links mentioned in this episode
• Sign up for my newsletter.
• Watch my YouTube Channel.
• Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page so you get notified of my Facebook Live videos.
• Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.
• Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.
• Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen Taylor, The Photo DetectiveTM helps clients with photo related genealogical problems. Her pioneering work in historic photo research has earned her the title “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective” by The Wall Street Journal and appearances on The View, The Today Show, Pawn Stars, and others. Learn more at Maureentaylor.com

Did you enjoy this episode? Please

I'm thrilled to be offering something new. Photo investigations. These collaborative one-on-one sessions. Look at your family photos then you and I meet to discuss your mystery images. And find out how each clue and hint might contribute to your family history. Find out more by going to maureentaylor.com and clicking on family photo investigations.

Support the show