Dr. Sandweiss explores what one photograph can reveal about a Civil War photographer, his subjects, and the world around him.  In 1868, celebrated Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner posed six federal government peace commissioners with a young Indigenous girl wrapped in a blanket. The hand-labeled prints carefully name each of the men, but the girl is never identified. In her book, The Girl in the Middle, Dr. Sandweiss searches for the girl’s identity, and draws readers into the entangled lives of the photographer and his subjects. In conversation with Dr. Bill Deverell, this webinar will explore Dr. Sandweiss’ research and work.

Martha A. Sandweiss is professor emerita of history at Princeton University, where she is founding director of the Princeton & Slavery Project. She is the award-winning author of many books, including Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception across the Color Line and Print the Legend: Photography and the American West.