Document Type
Panel Presentation
Start Date
19-4-2019 2:00 PM
End Date
19-4-2019 3:15 PM
Keywords
American Civil War, Harper's Weekly publication, public perception, photography, illustrations
Biography
Originally from the Northern Panhandle, I am a senior at Marshall University. My majors are History, International Affairs, and French.
Major
History, French, International Affairs
Advisor for this project
Laura Michele Diener
Abstract
For my project, I analyzed the Harper’s Weekly illustrations and reproductions of photographs during the years of the American Civil War. By comparing illustrations of the same event or battle, I argue that the public perceptions of the war were skewed as a result of the illustrations, which were quite different in their depictions of events in the same publication. Photographic technology of the time was not advanced enough to depict the violence in the battles, so the photographer often documented the aftermath using staged bodies, weapons, equipment, and other props. The publication often left the artists anonymous, which questions the authenticity of the illustrations.
DEPICTIONS OF WAR: A GLIMPSE INTO THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR AS TOLD BY THE HARPER’S WEEKLY
For my project, I analyzed the Harper’s Weekly illustrations and reproductions of photographs during the years of the American Civil War. By comparing illustrations of the same event or battle, I argue that the public perceptions of the war were skewed as a result of the illustrations, which were quite different in their depictions of events in the same publication. Photographic technology of the time was not advanced enough to depict the violence in the battles, so the photographer often documented the aftermath using staged bodies, weapons, equipment, and other props. The publication often left the artists anonymous, which questions the authenticity of the illustrations.
