This resource was last featured in the 08-01-2014 Scout Report and, even though the accompanying exhibit ended in 2014, the digital collections of soldiers' portraits and ephemera from the Civil War are well worth another visit.
The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was the first military unit consisting of Black soldiers to be raised in the North during the Civil War. This remarkable digital collection from the Massachusetts Historical Society is meant to complement a physical exhibit that was on display in 2014. On the site, visitors can peruse selected portraits of the soldiers who made up the unit, learn about their recruitment, and find out how they served during the attack against Fort Wagner on Morris Island in South Carolina. This last set of materials is quite moving as it contains shots of the men in their dress uniforms and their camp. The site is rounded out by a selection of additional images of the volunteers and images of recruitment ads and enlistment records.
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