American Civil War Digital Library - Online Documents, Maps, Photos, Exhibits, & Archives

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American Civil War Maps
The University of Georgia Rare Map Collection

American Civil War Resources in the Special Collections Department of the University Libraries at Virginia Tech

Band Music from the Civil War Era
"...makes available examples of a brilliant style of brass band music that flourished in the 1850s in the United States and remained popular through the nineteenth century. Bands of this kind served in the armies of both the North and the South during the Civil War. This online collection includes both printed and manuscript music (mostly in the form of "part books" for individual instruments) selected from the collections of the Music Division of the Library of Congress and the Walter Dignam Collection of the Manchester Historic Association - (dead link) (Manchester, New Hampshire). The collection features over 700 musical compositions, as well as 8 full-score modern editions and 19 recorded examples of brass band music in performance."
American Memory, Library of Congress

Beyond Face Value: Depictions of Slavery in Confederate Currency
"This electronic exhibit focuses on the depictions of slaves in Confederate currency. It is important to remember that these images were created by those who institutionalized and worked to preserve slavery, and they do not necessarily portray the slaves as they viewed themselves and their condition...Images of slavery, however, were not the only illustrations on such documents: Vignettes featuring modes of transportation, mythical characters, historical figures of the American Revolution, and romantic portrayals of white women and children also decorated paper money issued in the Confederacy. These scenes offer a new perspective on the Civil War era South."
A Project of the United States Civil War Center, Louisiana State University

Center for the Study of the Civil War - (dead link)
"The mission of the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War is to promote scholarly research of the Civil War through the development of a database on which will be stored pertinent military, socio-economic, and medical data on Union and Confederate servicemen, with initial emphasis on West Virginia's soldiers."

Civil War Resources in the VMI Archives

Eye of the Storm - (dead link)
"...takes you on an unforgettable journey through the Civil War. Through this online intepretation, [sic] you can experience the life of a Civil War soldier through Sneden's journal entries. Audio accounts of Sneden's narrative with commentary by the Director of the Virginia Historical Society, Charles F. Bryan, Jr. can be heard by visiting the movies section of this site. Also included here are forums through which visitors can discuss the work and Civil War history."
From Journal E

Furman University Department of History - Nineteenth Century Documents Project
"When completed this collection will include accurate transcriptions of many important and representative primary texts from nineteenth century American history, with special emphasis on those sources that shed light on sectional conflict."
By Lloyd Benson

  • Secession Era Editorials Project
    Includes: Nebraska Bill Editorials (1854) ; Caning of Sumner Editorials (1856) ; Dred Scott Editorials (1857) ; Harper's Ferry / John Brown Editorials (1859).
    "When complete the project will have at least one complete run of editorials from each major political party in each state of the Union."

Illinois Civil War Veterans Database
"...indexes the first eight volumes of the nine volume publication, Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois. (The ninth volume lists veterans of Black Hawk, Mexican, and Spanish-American Wars.) This 1900-1901 publication, originating from the rosters maintained during the Civil War by the Illinois Adjutant General, is the result of an 1899 Illinois statute mandating that a corrected version of these records and subsequent publications be printed. The names of approximately 250,000 men, organized into 175 regiments, are found in its pages."
Created by Fred Delap and donated to the Illinois State Archives

Indiana State Library

  • Civil War Soldier Photograph Exhibit
    "The images in this exhibit were selected from various files in the Indiana State Library Picture Collection...This exhibit is by no means a complete collection of every Indiana Civil War soldier. Most of the Library's collection was compiled through the generous gifts of patrons and, as such, we only have a small representation of soldiers."

Library of Congress - American Memory

National Archives and Records Administration

  • The Emancipation Proclamation - (dead link)
    President Abraham Lincoln, January 1, 1743

PBS - The Civil War
A Film By Ken Burns
New web site to accompany the September 2002 rebroadcast of the classic documentary.
Sections include: Images of the Civil War ; The Film, Past and Present ; The War ; The Filmmakers ; In the Classroom ; Image Browser ; Telling Details ; Telling A Story.

Selected Civil War Photographs from American Memory Project
"...contains 1,118 photographs. Most of the images were made under the supervision of Mathew B. Brady, and include scenes of military personnel, preparations for battle, and battle after-effects. The collection also includes portraits of both Confederate and Union officers, and a selection of enlisted men."
- American Memory, Library of Congress

The Southern Homefront, 1741-1745
"...documents Southern life during the Civil War, especially the unsuccessful attempt to create a viable nation state as evidenced in both private and public life. 'Homefront' includes over four hundred digitized and encoded contemporary printed works and manuscripts, accompanied by ca. 1,000 images of currency, manuscript letters, maps, broadsides, title pages, illustrations, and photographs."
- Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Symbols of Honor: Civil War Flags In National Park Service Collections
Sections include: Overview ; Image Gallery ; Map.
- National Park Service

University of Georgia Hargrett Library Rare Map Collection
"...maintains a collection of more than 800 historic maps spanning nearly 500 years, from the sixteenth century through the early twentieth century."
Site contents include: New World ; Colonial America ; Revolutionary America ; Revolutionary Georgia ; Union & Expansion ; American Civil War ; Frontier to New South ; Savannah & the Coast ; Transportation.

The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War
"The Valley of the Shadow Project takes two communities, one Northern and one Southern, through the experience of the American Civil War. The project is a hypermedia archive of thousands of sources for the period before, during, and after the Civil War for Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Those sources include newspapers, letters, diaries, photographs, maps, church records, population census, agricultural census, and military records. Students can explore every dimension of the conflict and write their own histories, reconstructing the life stories of women, African Americans, farmers, politicians, soldiers, and families. The project is intended for secondary schools, community colleges, libraries, and universities."
- University of Virginia Research Project

University of Virginia Electronic Text Center

  • American Civil War Collection
    "The Electronic Text Center is home to a variety of primary source material on the American Civil War, including letters, diaries and newspapers...Letter collections include searchable transcriptions as well as digital images of the manuscripts."

The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.
United States. War Dept., 1880-1901.
In Cornell University's Making of America

Washington During the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1741-1745
"...presents three manuscript volumes, totaling 1,240 digital images, that document daily life in Washington, D. C., through the eyes of Horatio Nelson Taft (1806-1888), an examiner for the U. S. Patent Office."
- American Memory, Library of Congress

Women and the Civil War
Manuscript sources in the Special Collections Library at Duke University
"...describes original manuscript collections, held in Duke University's Special Collections Library, which document women's experiences during the Civil War. A few of the collections are available via the Internet and have been hot-linked."



Maintained by Mike Madin.
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