L0810

When Dr. Natalie Chen, senior curator of photography at the National Museum of American History, began scanning a batch of images from the recently acquired Montgomery collection, she expected routine work. She had handled thousands of historical photographs. But one image from 1853 made her pause. The photograph showed two teenage girls seated side by … Read more

In 2018, Marcus Jefferson returned to his grandmother's house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to sort through her belongings after she passed away. The 42-year-old high school history teacher spent a sweltering summer day in the attic, opening boxes filled with old letters, faded receipts, and clothing that smelled of mothballs and time. Then he found … Read more

Dr. Sarah Bennett had spent 17 years cataloging photographs at the Charleston Museum of History. She believed she had seen everything the 19th century could offer, from stern patriarchs in formal dress to fading tintypes of Civil War soldiers and cabinet cards of society ladies in elaborate gowns. None of them had ever made her … Read more

In the fall of 2019, a photograph surfaced in the archives of the Virginia Historical Society that had sat unnoticed for decades. Cataloged simply as a military group portrait taken at Camp Lee, Virginia, in 1943, it had been donated years earlier as part of a larger collection of World War II memorabilia. Dr. Jerome … Read more

In August 1944, the village of Saint-Clair-sur-Elle in Normandy had just been liberated. By evening, French civilians had opened everything they had saved — wine, food, and music. Lieutenant David Pierce was dancing. He did not dance awkwardly or out of obligation. He genuinely danced. He had grown up in Charleston, South Carolina, in a … Read more

In May 1945, in Bavaria, Germany, a surrender ceremony had been underway for twenty minutes. Major General Otto Schrieber, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, stood at the processing table. Behind General George S. Patton, 3,000 American soldiers stood in formation, watching. The morning was cold and overcast, the kind of Bavarian spring day that … Read more

In March 1945, in a smoky interrogation room somewhere in occupied Germany, three high-ranking Wehrmacht officers sat across from American intelligence personnel. Their uniforms had been stripped of Nazi insignia, but they still carried the arrogance of men who had spent years believing they belonged to a superior military machine. The lead interrogator, a tired … Read more

In June 1944, just weeks after D-Day, a group of high-ranking British officers gathered in an officers' club in southern England. The room was thick with cigarette smoke and expensive scotch. A handful of American liaison officers sat nearby, trying to enjoy their drinks and mind their own business. The British officers, mostly colonels and … Read more