Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Volck, Adalbert John (1828-1912) Searching for arms

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00493.05 Author/Creator: Volck, Adalbert John (1828-1912) Place Written: s.l. Type: Print Date: circa 1880-1890 Pagination: 1 etching : b&w ; 26 x 34.8 cm. Order a Copy

Depicts arrogant Northern soldiers rummaging for weapons through the house of a Southern sympathizer. A woman is holding her scared daughter in the right foreground. The two women are in nightgowns and have wrapped themselves in a curtain to cover themselves from the view of the soldiers. The left foreground shows two soldiers looking under a mattress for weapons while another soldier shows the women a small Confederate flag he found in the house, as if to say this was all the proof he needed of their disloyalty. Background shows the man of the house fighting with two soldiers. Size in extent is for the mount. The actual size of the etching is 20.4 x 26.6 cm. Title is in pencil on verso.

Volck, Adalbert John, 1828-1912

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources