Temp 009 Banner:
Banner Title:
“Mirror With A Memory:”
Banner Description:
Harvard in the Civil War through a photographic lens
Temp 009 Summary:
Summary Title:
Announcing A New Exhibition in the Harvard University Archives
Summary Description:
“Mirror With A Memory:” Harvard in the Civil War through a photographic lens
Writing about stereographs in an article published in The Atlantic Monthly in June 1859, American physicist and poet Oliver Wendell Holmes (AB 1829) described the art of photography (then just twenty years old) as “the mirror with a memory.” Two years later, on the eve of the American Civil War, Holmes invented a handheld stereoscope for easier viewing of increasingly popular stereographs. Stereographs were just one format through which the public experienced unprecedented photographic documentation of the war. Photography’s popularity meant that soldiers were able to carry images of loved ones with them into battle and to send their own photographs home. These visual representations became especially important when a soldier died, providing a touchstone for remembrance of the individual and his service.
More than 150 years after the beginning of the Civil War, such photographs provide us in turn with a more immediate experience of the war. Together with textual documentation including letters and diaries, photographs broaden and inform our memory of the Civil War, adding a visual dimension to the names inscribed in history. Focusing on examples of photographic processes available during the 1860s, this exhibit explores three aspects of Harvard’s Civil War: the home front, student and alumni engagement in the war, and commemoration of those who served.
Temp 009 Sub Section:
Variation A:
Variation B:
Variation C:
Staff Section:
Preservation Services:
Variation D:
Resource Links Menu ref:
Resource Links
Temp 009 Search Box Enable:
Temp 009 Ask an Archivist Enable:
Left Menu ref:
University Archives Left Menu