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Reviewed by:
  • The Civil War in Pennsylvania: A Photographic History by Michael Kraus, David Neville, and Kenneth Turner, and: The Civil War in Pennsylvania: The African American Experience by Samuel W. Black
  • Jeffrey M. Flannery
Michael Kraus, David Neville, and Kenneth Turner. The Civil War in Pennsylvania: A Photographic History (Pittsburgh: Senator John Heinz History Center, 2013). Pp. 312. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. Paper, $34.95.
Samuel W. Black. The Civil War in Pennsylvania: The African American Experience (Pittsburgh: Senator John Heinz History Center, 2013). Pp. 239. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. Paper, $29.95.

The battles of the Civil War are never finished. This is especially true as the United States finds itself in the midst of innumerable sesquicentennial commemorations. These commemorations have produced an explosion of print exploring the legacy of a war that claimed more American lives than any other conflict in the nation’s history. Two prime examples of this output have been published by the John Heinz History Center in cooperation with Pennsylvania Civil War 150, an agency that serves as the commonwealth’s official planning committee for the sesquicentennial (see http://pacivilwar150.com). The purpose of Pennsylvania Civil War 150 is to reach a broad audience, and both publications have much to offer general and academic readers alike.

The relatively new technology of photography was just coming of age at the beginning of the 1860s. After the war began, a heavy demand was created by the public for information about the fighting and those who participated, and photographic images helped satisfy this demand. In addition, soldiers going off to war sought to create keepsakes for loved ones and photographic studios sprang up to fill the need. Focusing on the visual, The Civil War in Pennsylvania: A Photographic History closely resembles an exhibit catalog, and draws heavily from the private collection of author Ken Turner, but also utilizes resources found in various repositories. Some images are well known, but many have not enjoyed wide circulation. The five sections are arranged chronologically by year (1862–1865), with preliminary and aftermath chapters. Each chapter is divided into subchapters arranged thematically. These themes include the usual subjects—campaigns, politics, generals, and soldiers—but also devote considerable space to immigrants, uniforms, music, technology, the homefront, women, and African Americans. The chapter introductions and captions are well written and succinct, and nicely complement the images. The graphics are well organized and the size of the volume (23 cm) allows for clear and striking reproductions in color, sepia tone, and black and white. Readers will find many interesting images, such as the group captured by a photographer in front of the office of the [End Page 191] Christian Commission (224–25), which portrays the diversity of Civil War Washington in a fascinating display that draws one into the picture—who are these people—what drew them to this spot on this particular day—how would their stories play out? This image is a good example of the power of photography, whose immediacy and detail stimulate further questions. Civil War enthusiasts and general readers owe a debt to the authors who chose such compelling images.

The Civil War in Pennsylvania: The African American Experience offers a different approach. The purpose of “this work goes beyond the battlefield, however. It treats the war with circumspection to understand it from an African American point of view” (12). Divided into three sections (“Early Impact of Race, Politics, and Freedom”; “In Search of Freedom: Migration, Emigration, or Just Stay Put”; “The War to End Slavery: On the Road to Freedom”) eight essays written by members of the academic and legal communities trace the development of race relations, emigration debates, abolition, and military experience among Pennsylvania African Americans. Though the book is generously illustrated, the emphasis of the essays is not visual, with the exception of a chapter by Kraus, Turner, and Neville on the photographic history of Pennsylvania’s African Americans. Instead, there is prominent attention devoted to the leaders of the Keystone State’s African American community, such as Martin R. Delany, William Parker, and George Boyer Vashon, and how their views, careers, and activities transmuted into actions that affected the history of the era.

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