The Becker Collection: Drawings of the American Civil War Era contains over 600 “first-hand” drawings that document in lively and specific ways nineteenth-century America’s struggle to establish its national identity.

Joseph Becker (1841–1910) and his colleagues were artist-reporters who witnessed scenes of Civil War battles, railroad construction, the Chicago Fire, and other newsworthy items of their day. Upon having made sketches, the works were sent to Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly Newspaper, where wood engraving illustrations based on them were engraved and published.

This project is a collaboration between Boston College Libraries’ Digital Scholarship Group at the and the Art, Art History, and Film Department in BC’s Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences.

Keywords: Database, Digital Exhibition, Images, Metadata, Mapping