February 1, 2022 | Gregory Harris
No single event in American history has had a more foundational impact on the formation of national, cultural, racial, and regional identities in the United States than the Civil War. And no medium has done more to convey, communicate, and contest these identities than photography. The High recently acquired a selection of over sixty Civil War–era photographs that capture a nation in conflict, mourning, transition, and anticipation. Assembled over a period of more than twenty years, the Julia J. Norrell Collection is one of the most important and intriguing collections of this material and boasts prints of extraordinary rarity and power. From poignant views of the environmental devastation wrought by the war to riveting portraits of newly emancipated Americans, these striking photographs provide a window into the past and a mirror in which to explore and understand the roots of our present. Alongside the High’s renowned civil rights photography collection and its visionary Picturing the South commissions, this transformative acquisition offers visitors the opportunity to engage with the full sweep of photography’s history in the South through remarkable works by Timothy O’Sullivan, Matthew Brady, George Barnard, and many other innovators of nineteenth-century photography.