About the event
What does it mean to think about an old photograph as a primary source for historical research? How can a picture change our understanding of the past?
In 1868, celebrated Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner traveled to Fort Laramie to document the federal government’s treaty negotiations with the Lakota and other tribes of the northern plains. Gardner, known for his iconic portrait of Abraham Lincoln and his visceral pictures of the Confederate dead at Antietam, posed six federal peace commissioners with a young Native girl wrapped in a blanket. The hand-labeled prints carefully name each of the men, but the girl is never identified.
By identifying the unnamed child and unearthing her life history, Martha Sandweiss uncovers her surprising connections to the well-known men in the photograph, and finds a broader story about the violence of the 19th century American West. The child’s story, long lost to history, truly matters.
This talk is hosted by the Friends of the Bodleian, but is open to all.
Speaker
Martha A. Sandweiss is professor emerita of history at Princeton University, where she is founding director of the Princeton & Slavery Project. She is the award-winning author of many books, including Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception across the Color Line and Print the Legend: Photography and the American West.
Event information
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