Shortly after the conclusion of the Civil War, Union veterans formed the Grand Army of the Republic, or the G.A.R. Through the Reconstruction era and the Gilded Age, the G.A.R. was a powerful organization that lobbied the federal government for federal and state Soldiers Homes for invalids, advocated for the creation of Memorial Day, and also provided support for soldier reunions. This digital collection created by the University of Washington Libraries peers into the faces of some of these veterans by offering up this photograph album originally created by the Stevens Post #1 of the G.A.R., based in Seattle. The album contains over 100 portraits, and visitors can browse through them at their leisure. Visitors can zoom in and out on each photograph and they can also use a number of other tools to get the best view of each photograph for their own purposes. Also, while many of the photographs have complete provenance information, some do not, and visitors are welcome to write in with any insights they might have.
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