![]() Using Microsoft’s Azure Cognitive Services, the site has led to more than 300 identifications by its user base. Added to the mix are some 21,000 images from public collections such as the Library of Congress and the National Archives. “It’s that intangible sense of getting to know somebody in a way that you can’t from the military records and the biographical information you can dig up,” he explained.Īfter finally seeing Croxton, Luther was moved to expand his knowledge of Civil War photography and, combined with his experience as a professor of computer science at Virginia Tech, he would launch Civil War Photo Sleuth five years later in August of 2018.Ĭivil War Photo Sleuth is a free website created to use cutting-edge facial recognition software and user input to identify the tens of thousands of unidentified civil war photos in existence.Īccording to Luther, the site currently has more than 12,000 registered users who have uploaded more than 7,000 photos. ![]() The experience of seeing an actual photo of his ancestor by chance, after searching for him for some time, had a profound effect on Luther. If I hadn’t made the trip to that museum and looked in that particular display case, it never would have happened.” “This wasn’t the result of an internet search, but simply being in the right place at the right time. “It’s a big world out there, and a lot of Civil War photos are in private collections,” he said. Luther is well aware of how lucky he was to find his ancestor at all, let alone such a high-quality picture of him. He’s wearing his Union fatigue blouse and corporal’s chevrons and even some unique hat brass showing his regiment and company.” You can see details like the fine lines around his eyes and the roughness of his hands. “The photo was in beautiful condition, and the photographer knew what he was doing. “You couldn’t ask for a better Civil War portrait of an ancestor,” he said. “And even then, only 10-20% of Civil War portraits are identified.”īut this picture of Luther’s ancestor was of remarkable quality. “The photos would have to avoid being damaged or lost for 150 years,” he explained. ![]() Even if Croxton had the means or desire to have a multitude of photos taken of himself, there’s no guarantee Luther’s search would have been any easier. Photos of Civil War generals and colonels are pretty easy to come by, but as you move down the ranks, the odds of finding a surviving portrait drop dramatically.”Īn infantryman from Pennsylvania’s 134th volunteer regiment, Croxton was a low-ranked soldier of modest means, and the portrait Luther discovered was likely one of the few-if not the only-photographs taken of the man during his life. “It was an incredible moment,” recalls Luther. A stroke of luck at a Civil War exhibit in Pittsburgh in 2013 allowed Kurt Luther to find a photo of his great-great-uncle Oliver Croxton. ![]()
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