Civilwarhistory Archives - Maureen Taylor The Photo Detective Fri, 09 May 2025 13:03:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://maureentaylor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/cropped-site-icon-32x32.png Civilwarhistory Archives - Maureen Taylor 32 32 99869351 Episode 266: Military Images Magazine’s Ron Coddington Shares the Stories Behind Civil War Photos https://maureentaylor.com/episode-266-military-images-magazines-ron-coddington-shares-the-stories-behind-civil-war-photos/ Sun, 18 May 2025 04:06:34 +0000 https://maureentaylor.com/?p=83226 Ron Coddington, editor and publisher of Military Images magazine, joins The Photo Detective podcast to share his journey from teenage Civil War photo collector to leading a respected history publication. He discusses the legacy of Civil War portraiture, the vast archive of surviving images, and the magazine’s mission to reconnect forgotten faces with their stories. […]

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Ron Coddington, editor and publisher of Military Images magazine, joins The Photo Detective podcast to share his journey from teenage Civil War photo collector to leading a respected history publication. He discusses the legacy of Civil War portraiture, the vast archive of surviving images, and the magazine’s mission to reconnect forgotten faces with their stories. Coddington highlights his collaboration with historian Kurt Luther, advances in photo sleuthing, and efforts to digitize and exhibit collections nationwide. His passion for preserving and showcasing historical images is evident through high-quality print editions and traveling exhibits celebrating diverse Civil War contributors.

  • The magazine, founded in 1979, showcases rare Civil War portraits and stories behind them.

  • Civil War photography is vast—estimated at 40 million images taken, with millions surviving.

  • Collectors see themselves as “caretakers” of history, preserving identity and legacy.

  • Ron enhanced the magazine’s format, shifting to full-color, high-quality paper.

  • He collaborates with Kurt Luther on photo sleuthing using tech and crowdsourcing.

  • A database of 10,000+ identified soldiers is now available online and via JSTOR.

  • Traveling exhibits like Faces of Freedom bring Civil War stories to new audiences.

Episode 265: Spared and Shared: How One Man Made Civil War History Accessible to All

Episode 259: Digging Into Civil War Pension Files with Brian Rhinehart

Links:

About My Guest:

Ronald S. Coddington began collecting Civil War-era photography as a teenager, and he has never stopped. He has a passion for researching images from this tumultuous period and telling the stories behind them. A journalist by profession, he is the Editor and Publisher of Military Images, a quarterly magazine that showcases, interprets, and preserves Civil War portrait photography. He is the author of the five-volume series, Faces of the Civil War (Johns Hopkins University Press), and Gettysburg Faces: Portraits and Personal Accounts (Gettysburg Publishing). His writings have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Civil War Monitor, Civil War Times, Civil War News, and elsewhere. You can follow his trips down the research rabbit hole on Life in the Civil War Research Trail weekdays on YouTube.

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective® helps clients with photo related genealogical problems. Her pioneering work in historic photo research has earned her the title “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective” by The Wall Street Journal and appearances on The View, The Today Show, Pawn Stars, and others.   Learn more at Maureentaylor.com

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

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]]> 83226 Episode 265: Spared and Shared: How One Man Made Civil War History Accessible to All https://maureentaylor.com/episode-265-spared-and-shared-how-one-man-made-civil-war-history-accessible-to-all/ Sun, 04 May 2025 04:04:34 +0000 https://maureentaylor.com/?p=83216     In this episode, Griff (Bill Griffing), the mind behind the Spared and Shared websites, shares how he turned his post-retirement passion for Civil War history into a monumental historical preservation project. Transcribing over 15,000 letters—mostly from eBay—Griff provides context, authorship, and insight for Civil War correspondence, making them publicly accessible. With no formal […]

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In this episode, Griff (Bill Griffing), the mind behind the Spared and Shared websites, shares how he turned his post-retirement passion for Civil War history into a monumental historical preservation project. Transcribing over 15,000 letters—mostly from eBay—Griff provides context, authorship, and insight for Civil War correspondence, making them publicly accessible. With no formal background in history, his meticulous work bridges genealogical research and historical scholarship. His efforts have supported publications, academic research, and even led to a book on Abraham Lincoln. Griff’s dedication ensures these firsthand historical voices are preserved and searchable for generations.

  • Griff has transcribed over 15,000 historical letters, primarily from the Civil War era.

  • His Spared and Shared project spans over 23 public websites and more than 160 collection-specific sites.

  • His motivation was to preserve history and provide public access to otherwise lost voices.

  • His work is freely available and indexed via the Billy Yank & Johnny Reb Letters site.

  • Griff’s transcriptions support researchers, historians, and genealogists worldwide.

  • A book he co-edited, A Great and Good Man, compiles rare Lincoln accounts from these letters.

Episode 259: Digging Into Civil War Pension Files with Brian Rhinehart  

Episode 245: The Enduring Legacy of Tintypes From Civil War Soldiers to Contemporary Artists

About My Guest:

For the past fifteen years following his retirement, William Griffing dedicated himself to the transcription of letters—encompassing thousands of Civil War era correspondence and diaries that have remained unpublished until now, with most residing in private collections for decades. A significant portion of this work has been presented on various Spared & Shared Webpages or in independent, stand-alone websites.

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective® helps clients with photo related genealogical problems. Her pioneering work in historic photo research has earned her the title “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective” by The Wall Street Journal and appearances on The View, The Today Show, Pawn Stars, and others.   Learn more at Maureentaylor.com

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

The post Episode 265: Spared and Shared: How One Man Made Civil War History Accessible to All appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

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