This photograph came to NMAAHC with a short research summary from a historian, so I contacted the researcher and she generously shared with me her years of research about the people photographed, the soldier photographer, and the site pictured. All of her research was possible because, many years ago, someone thought to write ?Felix Richards slaves? on the paper to which the photograph was mounted. Because of this, 150 years later, she was able to look through archival records to learn the names of the women and children photographed: William, Lucinda, Fannie, Mary, Frances, Martha, Julia, Harriet, and Charles or Marshall. She traced the children as they grew through pension and census records, and she eventually located living descendants. One of these descendants happened to be coming to DC for an event, and I was able to meet her and learn more about her family's history.
