The Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society where I volunteer is located in the same building as the Briarcliff Manor Public Library. Occasionally the library has to dispose of books. When that happens anything that seems to relate to history comes our way first in case we’re interested (which we often are). This fascinating book came along recently. It’s perfect for someone (like me) who’s interests combine history (particularly military history, and even more particularly the US Civil War with photography)

Its title is Gettysburg. Journey in Time and it’s by William Frassanito. He was educated at Gettysburg College and did his graduate work in American cultural history in the Cooperstown Graduate program. While at Gettysburg College, he was a guide for three years at the Gettysburg National Park. He served with the U.S. Army in both Germany and Vietnam, and in Vietnam, where he won the Bronze Star, he was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff as an intelligence analyst.

In his conclusion Frassanito writes:

For more than a hundred years, the Gettysburg photographs have remained in a confused and neglected state. Their value as historical documents was realized well before the turn of the century, but their value as historical source materials was basically left untapped. A large number of the views were arbitrarily attributed to the famous Mathew Brady; captions and dates were vague and often incorrect; significant relationships between scenes went unnoticed; and although the views appeared time and time again in monumental works such as Miller’s ten-volume Photographic History of the Civil War, for all practical purposes no one thought to question the credits or the captions, or otherwise thought to treat the Gettysburg photographs as a distinct series.

By identifying the confusion that has existed, and by substituting order for that confusion, I have attempted to demonstrate what can be done – and indeed, what must be done – with historical photographs if they are ever to be accurately employed by students of the past.
The value of the early photograph is manifold. It is a unique document rich in information. It provides a dimension to the study of history available nowhere else. Moments in time have been captured and preserved, and it is for us today to be aware of the fact that unless such images are gathered, researched, organized and used to the fullest, we will be doing ourselves, as well as the photographers who recorded them, a great injustice. The loss, however, will mainly be ours.

Warning: some of the posts below depict dead soldiers on the battlefield, which may be disturbing for some.