Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs

All images are digitized | All jpegs/tiffs display outside Library of Congress | View All

Photographers Represented in the Liljenquist Collection

Most of the ambrotypes and tintypes in the Liljenquist collection are by anonymous photographers. Unsigned photographs were typical during this time period. For a list of identified photographers, casemakers, and related names, see Creator/Related Names index.

Rufus Anson, photographer. [Unidentified soldier in Union Zouave shell jacket with kepi] http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010650884/

Some soldiers visited photographic studios before they left for the war, leaving their portrait at home with loved ones. Others sat for itinerant photographers who set up temporary studios near the army camps. Tintypes were fairly durable and could be sent home in a letter.

Enoch Long, photographer. [Unidentified African American Union soldier with a rifle and revolver in front of painted backdrop showing weapons and American flag at Benton Barracks, Saint Louis, Missouri] http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010647218/

Photography studios often posed their clients in front of painted backdrops. These backdrops may provide clues to the identity of the photographic studio. Photographer Enoch Long, who worked at Benton Barracks in St. Louis, Missouri, is known for using this painted backdrop of a Civil War scene.

Confederate photographer Charles R. Rees is represented in the collection by more than 20 ambrotypes. Rees operated a studio in Richmond, Virginia, during the Civil War. He was one of the few photographers who signed his images directly on the glass plate.

Charles R. Rees, photographer. [Unidentified soldier in Confederate frock coat with gold trim] Note Rees's signature visible under the sitter's arm in detail at left. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010650887/

Royan M. Linn and J. Birney Linn set up their studio at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Here they photographed the western Union armies before the advance on Atlanta.

Royal M. Linn and J. Birney Linn, photographers. [Unidentified soldier in Union officer's uniform at Point Lookout, Tennessee, sitting with cavalry saber in hand and slouch hat resting beside him on a rock] http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010648878/