Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Many were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by your webmaster for contrast and color in Photoshop before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.

January 1, 1863. "Contrabands coming into camp -- arrival of Negro family in the Union lines." This image, half of a stereograph pair, was turned into a sketch by the artist Alfred Waud and appeared in the Jan. 31, 1863, issue of Harper's Weekly over the caption "An arrival in Camp -- under the Proclamation of Emancipation." Wet plate negative by David B. Woodbury. View full size.
It was suprising to me to look at the Waud sketch and see the same boy who looked so unhappy in the picture now looking up at the artist in a positively cheery way. I suppose it's possible his mood changed but I suspect more than a little artistic license was taken by Mr. Waud instead.
There is already a link to Alfred Waud's sketch in the caption.
Today's Top 5