Title The Black Civil War soldier : a visual history of conflict and citizenship / Deborah Willis

Published New York : New York University Press, [2021]

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Description 1 online resource (x, 243 pages) : illustrations Series NYU series in social and cultural analysis NYU series in social and cultural analysis Contents 1860-61: The War Begins -- 1861-62: Visualizing the Plan for Victory -- 1863: Men of Color, to Arms! -- 1864: Black Men in Battle -- 1865-66: The End of the War Summary "A stunning collection of stoic portraits and intimate ephemera from the lives of Black Civil War soldiers Though both the Union and Confederate armies excluded African American men from their initial calls to arms, many of the men who eventually served were black. Simultaneously, photography culture blossomed--marking the Civil War as the first conflict to be extensively documented through photographs. In The Black Civil War Soldier, Deb Willis explores the crucial role of photography in (re)telling and shaping African American narratives of the Civil War, pulling from a dynamic visual archive that has largely gone unacknowledged. With over seventy images, The Black Civil War Soldier contains a huge breadth of primary and archival materials, many of which are rarely reproduced. The photographs are supplemented with handwritten captions, letters, and other personal materials; Willis not only dives into the lives of black Union soldiers, but also includes stories of other African Americans involved with the struggle--from left-behind family members to female spies. Willis thus compiles a captivating memoir of photographs and words and examines them together to address themes of love and longing; responsibility and fear; commitment and patriotism; and--most predominantly--African American resilience. The Black Civil War Soldier offers a kaleidoscopic yet intimate portrait of the African American experience, from the beginning of the Civil War to 1900. Through her multimedia analysis, Willis acutely pinpoints the importance of African American communities in the development and prosecution of the war. The book shows how photography helped construct a national vision of blackness, war, and bondage, while unearthing the hidden histories of these black Civil War soldiers. In combating the erasure of this often overlooked history, Willis asks how these images might offer a more nuanced memory of African-American participation in the Civil War, and in doing so, points to individual and collective struggles for citizenship and remembrance."--Publisher description Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes In English Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on February 02, 2021) Subject African American soldiers -- Biography African American soldiers -- Portraits HISTORY / United States / General. African American soldiers Military participation -- African American SUBJECT United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Participation, African American United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Participation, African American -- Pictorial works Subject United States Genre/Form Biography portraits. Biographies History Pictorial works Portraits Biographies. Portraits. Biographies. Portraits. Form Electronic book LC no. 2020015038 ISBN 9781479826261 147982626X 9781479827145 1479827142

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