Civil War Photography Center Lists Gardner's War Photos
November 2002

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The National Center for Civil War Photography has released its first publication, started its charter membership drive and received its first large charitable contribution as well as its first major archival collection. The center's directors announced these achievements during the second annual Image of War seminar, which was held at Antietam in August.

The center's 72-page spiral-bound booklet, Catalogue of Photographic Incidents of the War, for the first time lists most of Alexander Gardner's Civil War photographs in a single publication.

The booklet has captions for more than 1,200 stereo photographs and more than 1,000 large-plate photographs taken by Gardner and his photographers.

"This catalog, a work in progress, represents the most comprehensive effort ever undertaken to compile a master index of all the scenic photographs produced by Alexander Gardner and his associates during the Civil War," writes historian William A. Frassanito in the preface.

Center President Bob Zeller, who compiled the catalog, announced that the publication would be given to those who become members of the center. The catalog's first edition - the "Charter Membership Premier Edition" - is limited to 100 numbered copies, which will be distributed to first 100 people who join. Subsequent members will receive a copy of the second printing.

The National Center for Civil War Photography is a non-profit Pennsylvania corporation. Basic charter membership for 2002-2003 is $35.

Zeller and Charles G. Morrongiello, the center's development director and secretary-treasurer, also announced that the Earl Knudsen Charitable Foundation of Carnegie, Pa., had given the center an unrestricted grant of $5,000.

Zeller said the center would use the funds primarily to help finance publication of the first newsletter, which will feature a previously unknown and unpublished stereo photograph of the Wilderness battlefield.

The center's vice president, historian Garry E. Adelman, has been working with the center's first archival contribution - a collection of about 1,000 4x5 negatives taken of the Gettysburg battlefield by the National Park Service from the 1920s to the 1960s.

" These photographs are important because they show us what the battlefield looked like more than 50 years ago, with roads and structures that no longer exist, such as the old Cyclorama building," Adelman said. "To me, one of the most fascinating aspects of Gettysburg is the dramatic changes that have occurred at the park over the years."

Adelman said the Adams County Historical Society has expressed interest in working with the center to preserve, study and reproduce the images.

The center also received a boost from Civil War artist Rick Reeves, who painted a scene of Alexander Gardner making a photograph with his stereoscopic camera in the Slaughter Pen at Gettysburg. Reeves donated the painting to the center, which is offering unframed canvas transfer oil painting copies of the work to $1,000 donors.

During the seminar's Antietam battlefield tour, Adelman displayed several dozen obscure postwar photographs of the battlefield that he had uncovered during research for the program.

The seminar also included a wet-plate photography demonstration on the battlefield by Rob Gibson of Gibson's Gallery in Gettysburg and an exhibition of Zeller's collection of more than 60 vintage, original albumen prints of the photographs Gardner took on the Antietam battlefield in the days after the battle of Sept. 17, 1862.

The center aims to establish a permanent facility in Gettysburg with a 3-D Theater, Gibson's Gallery, a gift and book shop, an exhibition hall and an archives and library. In the meantime, it offers a free website, www.civilwarphotography.com, and has begun laying the groundwork for the third annual Image of War seminar next year at Gettysburg.

For more information, write information@civilwarphotography.com or contact Zeller at (336) 674-3359.