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

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. After making sketches, they 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 and Morrissey College of Arts and Science’s Art, Art History, and Film Department.