About Images of the American Civil War

1. About the Database
Images of the American Civil War: Photographs, Posters, and Ephemera presents the dramatic imagery of nineteenth-century Americana as experienced from the social, military, and political perspectives. At completion, the collection will present 75,000 images drawn from archives around the country, documenting the camp and battle experiences of Union and Confederate soldiers of all ranks, time spent in hospitals and in prisons, civilian life in cities and towns close to and far from the front lines of war, and the demeanor of the politicians whose decisions could bring the nation together or tear it apart.  Many of the images in the collection were captured by famous and lesser-known innovators working with the burgeoning medium of nineteenth-century photography.  Additionally, graphical content such as envelopes, song sheets, recruiting posters, imprints, and cartoons give users the ability to research how wartime America illustrated their times visually. With Images of the American Civil War: Photographs, Posters, and Ephemera, researchers and students can now see the moments—both monumental and mundane--that occurred as the nation stood divided.

Regular updates of Images of the American Civil War: Photographs, Posters, and Ephemera ensure an ever-expanding trove of fully-searchable images. Most of the materials have been gathered from extensive archives of nineteenth-century Americana. Partnerships with these archives allow the collection to bring forth previously unpublished photographs and posters to further scholarship of the Civil War. All images are organized around key broad subject areas in the field, allowing users to proceed directly to visual narratives of social, political, and military aspects of the war. Additionally, each image contains a short contextual note and is indexed for available data such as photographer, year, and setting. The result is a widely searchable database that gives researches unprecedented access to the highly visual record of the Civil War experience.

Note: The current release of Images of the American Civil War is a beta version.

2. Editorial Policy
The aim of this collection is to provide scholars and students with a comprehensive visual history of America during the Civil War, providing graphic documentation of military, civil, and political life in both the Union and the Confederacy. .

3. Acknowledgements
Many are to thank in the creation of this database. A special thanks to:

• Andrea Eastman-Mullins
• Cassia Martin
• Christian Fearer
• John Cicero
• Maura Walz
• Nazar Sharunenko
• Oliver Breary
• Paul Dixon
• Peter Cooper
• Stephanie Garrett
• Stephen Rhind-Tutt
• Thomas Lange

4. Subscription and Free Trial Information.
Images of the American Civil War: Photographs, Posters, and Ephemera is available for one-time purchase of perpetual access, or as an annual subscription. Please contact us at sales@alexanderstreet.com if you wish to begin a subscription or to request a free 30-day trial.

5. Technical Support.
You can contact us by:

• Email at support@alexanderst.com

When reporting a problem please include your customer name, e-mail address, phone number, domain name or IP address and that of your web proxy server if used.

6. How to Contribute Materials or Comments
Our goal is to create a unique archive according to the editorial criteria expressed above. We welcome contributions from organizations and individuals, especially if you have materials that are unpublished or of special interest. Submitting materials to our editors is easy and without obligation on your part.

• To submit materials for inclusion in Images of the American Civil War, please contact the Editor at editor@astreetpress.com with a description of the materials you are interested in submitting.
• If you are a commercial publisher who would like to discuss licensing materials for inclusion in the database, please contact the Editor at editor@astreetpress.com

7. Errata
Our intention is to have a database without errors. We appreciate all suggestions for improvements and reports of factual errors. To report errors or to suggest improvements, please email the Editor at editor@astreetpress.com. Please include the author, the document, and the page number. Please also include your email address, so that we can let you know the status of your correction.

8. Copyright
All materials in the database are protected under U.S. and International Copyright Law. Fair use under the law permits reproduction of single copies for personal research and private use. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of protected items requires the written permission of the copyright owners.

Home Page

Browse By
To the left of the product description you will find a list of subject areas covered by material in the database. Click on the title to view the images indexed for that subject.

Dates
To the left of the product description you will find a list of dates. Click on the title to view the images indexed for that dates.

Using the Toolbar

Located at the top of each page you will find the Toolbar that allows you to navigate through the site using the following buttons:

• Home returns you to the Home page from anywhere in the database.
• Browse takes you to a list of all subjects included in the database.
• Search takes you to the Advanced Search screen.
• Help opens the Table of Contents for the help file.

FAQ


• How much content is in the database?
  The latest number of images included is listed on the homepage.
  
  
• Are there URLs for each work that can be emailed to students/colleagues?
  Yes, each image has a static URL that can be used to direct others to the work. Click the static URL icon at the bottom of the image's record for the static URL.
  
  
• Can I use Boolean operators?
  Yes, you can use Boolean operators in any search field.
  
  AND Operator
  The AND operator retrieves all cases where words, phrases, and their variations appear in the same specified context (e.g., church AND state).
  As you enter more search terms, fewer results will be retrieved but each result will be of higher relevance.
  
  OR Operator
  The OR operator retrieves all instances where individual words or phrases appear (e.g., avarice OR greed, holy ghost OR spirit).
  
  1. Entering more terms into the search field and selecting 'OR' in the dropdown will reduce the number of results and help you to focus in on the most relevant matches.
  2. Entering more terms into the search field and selecting 'AND' in the dropdown will increase the number of results and is particularly useful when you want to include synonyms of your main search term.

System Requirements

This product is optimized to operate with Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher, and Firefox 1.0 or higher.
Audio and video resources are accessible with Adobe Flash Player 9 or higher.

Terms of Use

License Agreement

1. THE PARTIES: "Customer" means the person(s) and/or organization that have ordered or are taking a trial of the Product(s) as listed in Appendix A. The location listed in Appendix A is the "Site." "ASP" means Alexander Street Press, LLC, whose registered offices are situated at 3212 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314. "IP" means the owners of copyright in the original materials that form part of the Product(s).

2. USER LICENSE: This Agreement constitutes a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Product(s) listed in Appendix B. The Product(s) include(s) the data, any accompanying search and retrieval software, the documentation, and any accompanying tapes or disks.

3. AUTHORIZED USE: Subject to the restrictions contained in Article 5 below, the Customer is hereby granted a non-exclusive license to use the Product(s) in way that is consistent with U.S. Fair Use Provisions and international law, and to make limited numbers of hard or electronic copies for research, education, or other non-commercial use only; for more extended use, the Customer must obtain prior consent in writing from ASP or the relevant IP.
The Customer's rights are limited to itself alone and do not extend to subsidiary or parent corporations, or to any other related or affiliated organizations. Any rights not expressly granted in this license are reserved to ASP.

4. RESTRICTIONS: The Customer may not decompile or reverse engineer the Product(s); modify or create a derivative work; remove, obscure, or modify copyright notices; sell, distribute or commercially exploit the Product(s); or transfer, assign or sublicense this license.

5. AUTHORIZED USERS: Authorized Users are the Customer's currently enrolled full- or part-time students, employees, faculty, staff, affiliated researchers, distance learners, visiting scholars, and walk-in patrons who are physically present at the Site. The Product(s) may be used by the licensed number of simultaneous users for which the Customer has paid.

6. DELIVERY / ACCESS: The Product(s) will be stored at one or more locations in digital form. If the Customer has paid for an annual Web subscription, Authorized Users will be granted access to these location(s). If the Customer has purchased perpetual access to the Product(s), ASP will provide the Customer with the data contained in the Product(s) on a CD-ROM or magnetic tape, which the Customer can either archive or load onto a local server to be accessed by the Customer's search and retrieval software.

7. CUSTOMER SUPPORT: ASP will offer reasonable levels of continuing support via email, phone or fax, during normal business hours, for feedback, problem-solving, or general questions. Any technical assistance that ASP may provide to the Customer is provided at the sole risk of the Customer. The Customer shall name one (1) technical support staff person (listed in Appendix A).

8. PRICING AND TERM: The price of the Product(s) and term of use are specified in a separate agreement letter and may be renegotiated periodically. ASP will provide web access at the start of the term for which the Customer has paid the initial subscription fee. The term will be extended to all periods for which the Customer has paid. In the event that ASP and the Customer mutually agree to an updated version of this Agreement, the updated version shall replace this version. ASP reserves the right to cease offering the Customer the opportunity to renew a subscription.

9. PRODUCT UPDATES: The Customer will receive updates to the Product(s) for which the appropriate fee has been paid. If the Customer fails to comply with any of its responsibilities under this Agreement, the Customer may be denied any and all future updates, without precluding ASP from seeking any other remedies.

10. PERFORMANCE: ASP will use reasonable efforts to ensure that its servers have sufficient capacity and rate of connectivity to provide the Customer with a quality of service comparable to current standards in the online information provision industry in the Customer's locale. ASP will use reasonable efforts to provide continuous service with an average of 28 days of up-time per month. Scheduled down-time will be performed at low-usage times.

11. LIMITATION OF WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY: ASP warrants that any tape or disk licensed hereunder is free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use. ASP will replace defective tapes and disks free of charge upon their return to ASP. This will be ASP's and the IP's entire liability with respect to this license. ASP and the IPs warrant and represent that they have the right to enter into this Agreement and to deliver the Product(s) "as is."
These warranties are in lieu of any and all other warranties, written or oral, express or implied, including without limitation, warranties of merchantability of fitness for a particular purpose, all of which ASP disclaims. In no event will ASP be liable for more than the license fee paid (whether such liability arises from breach of warranty, breach of this contract or otherwise, and whether in contract or in tort, including negligence and strict liability).

12. TERMINATION: If the Customer breaches any term of this Agreement, ASP may, in addition to its other legal rights and remedies, terminate this license on 7 days written notice to Customer, if Customer has not remedied the breach within the 7 days. Upon any termination, the Customer will forthwith return to ASP the Product(s) and all copies thereof, and will erase all electronic storage of copies of the Product(s). Any termination, whether or not pursuant to this Article 13, will not affect any obligation or liability of a party arising prior to termination, and the provisions of Articles 12 will survive any termination.

13. FORCE MAJEURE: Neither ASP nor the IP will be responsible for any delay or failure in performance resulting from any cause beyond their control.

14. APPLICABLE LAW: This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Virginia without giving effect to the principles of conflict of laws thereof, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, the Customer consents to the jurisdiction of courts situated in Virginia in any action arising under this Agreement.

15. DISPUTE RESOLUTION: If any differences arise between the Customer and ASP relating to the meaning of this Agreement, the parties agree to resolve such differences through Arbitration or by any other means to which the two parties may agree.

16. INDEMNIFICATION: Each party shall indemnify and hold the other harmless for any losses, claims, damages, awards, penalties, or injuries incurred by any third party, including reasonable attorney's fees, which arise from any alleged breach of such indemnifying party's representations and warranties made under this Agreement, provided that the indemnifying party is promptly notified of any such claims. This indemnity shall survive the termination of this Agreement.

17. ENTIRE UNDERSTANDING: This Agreement constitutes the entire understanding of the parties and supercedes all prior communications, understandings and agreements relating to the subject matter hereof, whether oral or written.

18. AMENDMENT: No modification or claimed waiver of any provision of this Agreement shall be valid except by written amendment signed by authorized representatives of the Customer and ASP.

19. ENFORCEABILITY BY IP: The IP retains its rights to enforce its trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets and other rights against any violation thereof.

20. SEVERABILITY: If a term or condition of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, the remaining terms and conditions hereof shall remain in full force and effect and shall be enforceable to the maximum extent permitted by law.

BROWSING

Browse All Subjects
Browse All Subjects includes every subject title in the database listed alphabetically.  Click on one of the subjects to view all the images and metadata indexed for that category.

SEARCHING

Search Tips
Tip 1: Leave at least one box checked. At least one field is required for a search.
Tip 2: Default searching matches results located in keyword, title, and caption.
Tip 3: Word order, case, and punctuation are ignored. For example, Timothy O’Sullivan may be entered O’Sullivan, Timothy.
Tip 4: Keep searches simple and specific. For example, to search for sources on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, you only need to enter: Assassination.
Tip 5: Try double-checking your spelling before submitting your search.
Tip 6: Using Boolean operators: Use the 'AND' 'OR' drop-down box under the search field to narrow or expand your search results.

Advanced Search
The Advanced Search function allows you to input particular criteria to make your results more exact. You may use any combination of one or more search fields to limit your search. The more fields you use, the smaller your result set will be. To reset the search screen, click the Clear button.

Search by Date
Search by Date to view any year indexed in the collection Just click the corresponding box. For example to see all images indexed for April 1864 simply type in 1864 to view results for that year.

Search by Place
Search by Place to see images indexed for particular geographical locations. For example, to see images of Richmond, Virginia, select the Place checkbox and enter “Richmond” into the search field.

Search by Battle/Campaign/Event
Search by Battle/Campaign/Event to view images associated with a particular war or historic event. For example, to see photographs from the First Battle of Bull Run simply type in “Bull Run” in the field and click search.

Search by Setting
Search by Setting to search by ‘Exterior’, ‘Interior’, or ‘Studio’ setting. Just click the box and type on of three above options and click search

Search by Image Type
Search by Image Type to view results by ‘Photograph, ‘Poster’, or ‘Envelope’. Just click the box and type on of three above options.

Search by Photographer/Creator
Search by Photographer/Creator to search by photographer or creator. Just click the box and type on of three above options. For example to, search for images by James B. Gibson, simply type Gibson, James or James Gibson to view images created by this photographer.

Search by Document Type
Search by Document Type to view results by “Photograph,” “Poster,” or “Envelope.” Just click the box and type on of three above search terms.

Search by Photographer/Creator
Search by Photographer/Creator to search by photographer or creator. Just click the box and type on of three above options. For example to, search for images by James B. Gibson, simply type Gibson, James or James Gibson to view images created by this photographer.