eBay

Image information:

Slave pen
Interior view
Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria Virginia was the perfect gateway for buying and selling of slaves. Due to its proximity to Maryland and the railroad lines leading to the Deep South slave from here could be easily transported to their final destination. While importing of new slaves had been outlawed by Congress in 1808, the practice remained legal and thrived with the existing population already in the United States. Additional slaves were smuggled in, but the penalty for capture was stiff, up to and including death.

The slave firm of Franklin and Armfield bought this property on Duke Street in 1828 and operated one of the most successful slave auction houses in the country. At the time of the Civil War they were responsible for nearly half of the slave trade between New Orleans and Maryland. With this success came a few “luxuries”. The slave pens, shown here, were larger than others in the area, the site boasted a kitchen, tailor shop and even a hospital to ensure that top dollar was brought for any slave sold.

Due to its proximity to Washington D.C., Alexandria was one of the first cities to fall when the war began in 1861. While slavery would remain legal in Virginia until the Emancipation Proclamation nearly two years later, this location was immediately surrendered to the Union Army. For much of the remainder of the war the slave pen area became a federal prison and housed Southerners who committed any number of crimes from illegal sale of liquor to jeering at Union troops to not having the proper pass.

By 1864 the hospital area had re-opened as L'Ouverture Hospital and served African-American troops as well as “Contrabands” as runaway slaves where known. Following the war the slave pens were torn down and the location became a local row house for the next 120 years. In 1996 the location was purchased by the Northern Virginia Urban League which renamed the location “Freedom House”. Currently they are renovating the property to restore some of the pens that existed prior to the Civil War.

What others are saying:

Bob Zeller: (Author of Lincoln in 3D, Blue & Gray and Black and White, Civil War In Depth I & II) From the dawn of the photograph until the advent of practical color photography, images were hand-painted to add the color that was missing in the early photographic processes. This lost art has been admirably revived by Civil War In 3d in their meticulous tinting of stereo views of the Civil War. Following in the time-honored tradition of the anonymous artists who added color to Gardner's legendary wartime photographs and the Anthony War for the Union stereo series, Civil War In 3D reminds us with their work that the Civil War was not fought in a black-and-white world.

Stephen M. Cobaugh: "I just received my order of stereoviews in the mail. All I can say is WOW! As you know, I'm a Civil War reenactor, but also a professional photographer and graphic designer. The quality of your products is extraordinary and is superior to anything I've seen, especially the color enhancements. It's a interesting reminder of the fact that the war was in color for those who experienced it. It's only modern people who picture it in the sense of black and white or sepia tone."

Stephen M. Cobaugh is a writer, director and documentary film producer. Currently he is working on the story of the Ninety Third Pennsylvania Regiment with his film: “Brothers Ever Shall We Be”

Awards: Civilwarin3d.com was awarded September 2010 "Must See 3D" by 3-D Review Online Magazine "for their outstanding restoration work in bringing these cards to the collecting world.” “CivilWarIn3D.com provided 3-D Review with several sample cards. We were amazed at the quality. Using magnifying glasses, we expected to find halftone dots when we inspected the details of the stereoviews. The cards are truly photographic in quality and extremely sharp in detail.” We are sure that you will be equally impressed!

Shipping:

First cards ships for $5.95. Order additional cards and shipping is only $1 per card!

Background of the collection:

Civil War In 3D images' were obtained from the Library of Congress, National Archives and other quality sources. Each image has been carefully restored to remove 150 years of wear, scratches, cracks and imperfections. Then each image has spent numerous hours being hand colored to recreate, as close as possible, the original scene as it may have appeared on the day it was taken. Due to the quality of work and loving restoration that has been done, Civil War In 3D images have been accepted into the collections of photography and historical museums.

Hand coloring of images is a technique that dates to the very beginning of photography. There are many examples of period stereo view cards that were colored. With modern digital technology, the ability to color a photograph allows the image to move from a black and white photo with splashes of color, to photographs that duplicate as near as possible, life-like full color images.

Each image was created from a scan of the original negative producing a brilliant digital image up to 100Mb in size for each half (total of up to 200 Mb for both images) of the image. After restoration and coloring, the size of the combined images grew to a staggering 1Gb in size before being commercially printed. By using commercial printing and mounting, we have produced a quality image that will last and become a valued part of your collection.

After printing, each image is professionally mounted onto standard 'Holmes' size stereo card measuring 3 1/2" x 7". Each card uses a matte board to produce a durable card nearly identical to the original cards. Other reproduction cards are printed on a slightly heavy paper on a home printer and do not have the image quality of professional photo paper, or the "feel" of a commercially mounted card. A one inch stack of these other cards would hold 97 images, while ours, with our superior mount, would only hold 16! We pride ourselves in trying to recreate the original card with the best modern technology.

Restoration and coloring copyright 2009-2013 by Civil War In 3D. Printed card does not contain watermark (text on image). Please indicate your preference of Color, Sepia or Black and White when ordering. Unless a preference is given, the color image with a Matte Finish will be shipped.