Hardcover: 384 pages, 77 halftones
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (September 27, 2012)
ISBN-10: 142140625X
ISBN-13: 978-1421406251

Book jacket description
A renowned collector of Civil War photographs and a prodigious researcher, Ronald S. Coddington combines compelling archival images with biographical stories that reveal the human side of the war. This third volume in his series on Civil War soldiers contains previously unpublished photographs of African American Civil War participants—many of whom fought to secure their freedom.

During the Civil War, 200,000 African American men enlisted in the Union army or navy. Some of them were free men and some escaped from slavery; others were released by sympathetic owners to serve the war effort. African American Faces of the Civil War tells the story of the Civil War through the images of men of color who served in roles that ranged from servants and laborers to enlisted men and junior officers.

Coddington discovers these portraits— cartes de visite, ambrotypes, and tintypes—in museums, archives, and private collections. He has pieced together each individual’s life and fate based upon personal documents, military records, and pension files. These stories tell of ordinary men who became fighters, of the prejudice they faced, and of the challenges they endured. African American Faces of the Civil War makes an important contribution to a comparatively understudied aspect of the war and provides a fascinating look into lives that helped shape America.

Related posts on the JHU Press Blog:
→ Unearthing rare images and unique stories of African American Civil War soldiers.
→ The identity of a servant to a Union officer comes to light.

Related book discussions and talks:
→ Appearance at the New York Public Library recorded by C-SPAN3.
→ Interview with David K. Thomson on The Civil War Monitor's "Behind the Scenes" blog.
→ Appearance on The Kojo Nnamdi Show, WAMU, Washington, D.C.