This now-iconic image of the family of Sgt. Samuel Smith, an African-American soldier wearing an Abraham Lincoln campaign pin, is a featured photo on Wikimedia Commons and was donated to the Library of Congress as part of the Liljenquist Collection
Unidentified soldier in Virginia Volunteer uniform and secession badge
This image of A. M. Chandler and Silas Chandler was purchased from Chandler descendants and owned by the Liljenquists "for about 10 minutes"[1] before it was donated to the Library of Congress

Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. is a collection of photographs and ephemera related to the American Civil War. The bulk of the collection is ambrotypes, tintypes, and cartes de visite of individual soldiers and officers from both sides of the conflict.

History

The collection, still in progress, was assembled and donated by McLean, Virginia business owner Tom Liljenquist and his three sons, Jason Liljenquist, Brandon Liljenquist, and Christian Liljenquist. Liljenquist owns four jewelry and watch boutiques in the Delmarva area of the United States. The family assembled the first 700 items in the archive through online auctions and visiting Civil War memorabilia vendors.[2] Research into a drummer boy from Maine who wrote of serving three years "with the greatest army that was ever known" and died at age 21 of complications from malaria was part of what inspired the Liljenquists to donate their assembled collection to the Library.[3] Ambrotypes, an early photographic process with a unique "tonality," were an early focus of the family collection.[2] The collection now numbers more than 7,000 items and the family continues to make donations of new items.[4]

The Liljenquist Collection was the basis of the 2011 Library of Congress exhibit The Last Full Measure: Civil War Photographs from the Liljenquist Family Collection, which was organized to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War.[5] Many of the photographs have been dispersed over time from their families of origin and lack identifications, so the Library of Congress created a Flickr stream and has a contact email for the collection, as it is actively soliciting potential IDs from genealogists and volunteer Civil War researchers.[6] Community identifications have been made, either tentatively,[7] or conclusively, such as a "famous" photo of a Confederate that was initially cataloged as unidentified but that was familiar to hard-core Georgia historians,[8] and a group photograph that was connected with Company H of the 124th New York Volunteer Infantry—an image, as it happened, that included both a future Congressman and a Medal of Honor winner.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ruane, Michael E. (2014-08-29). "Mystery shrouds worn image of master, slave headed to war". South Florida Sun Sentinel. pp. A16. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  2. 1 2 "Looking back: Photos of ordinary people, soldiers, are the focus of Civil War exhibit". The Macon Telegraph. 2011-05-08. pp. E1. Retrieved 2023-12-25. & "Exhibit [part 2 of 2]". The Macon Telegraph. 2011-05-08. pp. E3. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  3. ↑ Liljenquist, Brandon. "The Last Full Measure: The Liljenquist Family Collection (Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress)". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  4. ↑ "Search Results: "liljenquist" - Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress)". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  5. ↑ "Civil War faces live again in exhibit". The Gazette. 2011-04-17. pp. P4. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  6. ↑ "How are your sleuthing skills?". The Day. McClatchy-Tribune News Service. 2011-04-26. p. 19. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  7. ↑ Ruane, Michael E. (2010-12-19). "'Beloved son' of the Civil War identified". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  8. ↑ Peralta, Eyder (2012-08-22). "Confederate Soldier In Famous Portrait Is Identified". NPR All Things Considered.
  9. ↑ Ruane, Michael E. (2014-03-09). "Civil War identity puzzle solved". The Park City Daily News. pp. A11. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
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