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Civil War posters

Call Number

PR 55-3

Date

1861-1865, inclusive

Creator

Extent

0.62 Linear feet (466 items)

Language of Materials

This collection is primarily visual. Any text is likely to be in English.

Abstract

The Civil War Posters collection at the New-York Historical Society forms part of the society's vast collection of posters, which is comprised of approximately 5,000 items. As part of this major poster collection, the Civil War posters, consisting mainly of recruiting posters, illustrate a variety of advertisements by Civil War regiments as they were designed to appeal to potential recruits in the early 1860s.

304 of the Civil War Posters are digitized and available in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Library.

Arrangement

The recruiting posters, the first 306 items of the Civil War posters collection, are numbered in an arrangement by state, event (meeting, auctions, etc.), size (standard vs. oversize), regiment designation, and title. The remaining 160 items (deserter lists, muster rolls, etc.), are divided between Union and Confederate and arranged by state. The posters are physically arranged by size. The container list describes where posters are housed by number. An item-level database is available in the repository.

Scope and Contents

The Civil War Posters consist of a total of 466 items. Of this total, 275 are recruiting posters, 31 are posters advertising auctions, drives, meetings, and the remaining 160 items refer to deserter lists, muster rolls, and various other announcements and newspaper clippings pertaining to the Civil War. The recruiting posters represent a variety of Civil War regiments from the states of Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania in the areas of artillery, cavalry, and infantry. Most of the recruiting posters come from New York followed by New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Also noted on many recruiting posters are the types of men desired. These desired men may have been African Americans, Germans (11 are written in German), Irish, married or single men.

The iconography of the recruiting posters also makes them quite distinct. Icons, in color and black and white, depict the spreading wings of an eagle with banners, valiant cavalry men on horses, beautiful harps, and the heroic face of George Washington to name only a few. For many posters, it is the icon that is the prominent image on the poster and draws the viewer's attention. Other posters of interest may be found in the 160 items which are not recruiting posters. Some of these items include songs, poems, and even a hospital slipper pattern. The deserter lists in these 160 items demonstrate the indignance of officials against deserters and the posting of rewards to track down such persons.

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as PR 55-3, Civil War Posters.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection's accession dates span from the 1860s to 1937.

Related Materials

Other series of the Poster File contain similar items such as theater playbills and circus posters, book and magazine placards, war posters, and other political and cultural posters.

Existence and Location of Copies

Digital copies of 304 Civil War posters are available in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Library.

Collection processed by

Trina Veckley and Elizabeth E. Arena

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:48:03 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from civilwar01mb.xml

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024