A Picture from the Past

Obtaining a Photograph from the U.S. Army Military History Institute

by D. J. McAdam
 

  Today, I looked across time.

Today, for the first time, I viewed a photograph of my great-great-grandfather, Nathaniel Augustus Conklin, in his military uniform.  He is, in the picture, a young man, and although he is not smiling, one senses the virtues that one has read about; kind, but also resolute, determined, and dutiful.  It is the face of a man who left his home in Brooklyn to fight virtually every day of the American Civil War, who started as a Private in the Union Army and who left, when victory had been attained, as a Captain.  "Gus," as he preferred to call himself, was a true American hero.

I do not believe that my immediate family ever possessed a photograph of Gus Conklin.  Certainly I never saw one.  The photograph that I viewed today was purchased from the U.S. Army Military History Institute, and I highly recommend them as a potential source of photographs from the American Civil War. 

To determine whether or not the Institute might have a picture of one of your ancestors, simply visit their website at www.carlisle.army.mil/ahec . 

The full mailing address is:   

U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center
U.S. Army Military History Institute
950 Soldiers Drive
Carlisle, PA  17013-5021

E-mail:  USAMHI@CARLISLE.ARMY.MIL                                         

Telephone:  717-245-3971

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A Picture from the Past