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Civil War "Boys"
In 2011, a blog on Tumblr called "My Daguerreotype Boyfriend" became an internet sensation. This web-based photo album invites people to add old photographs of objectively handsome men from the 1830s to the 1910s. The site boasts thousands of early photos of scientists and artists, athletes and writers, many of whom went on to become famous in their respective fields. However, the images that really stand out are those of unidentified young men in uniform, mostly from the Civil War. These photos resonate in part because they reveal the uncertainty of war and the innocence of youth, both potent reflections of a war whose reverberations continue to be felt.
"My Dagguerrotype Boyfriend" is not alone in its playful approach to historic figures. So, when our curatorial staff saw a meme on Instagram that interpreted "Boys" -- a retro funk song from soulful, popular singer, Lizzo -- through Civil War prints, we wanted to have our own fun. Civil War "Boys" looks at people and found objects from our collection in a different, more lighthearted way. |