The bulk of this series is a photographic record of Kurtz's field studies during his research of two American Civil War events: Andrews' Raid and the Atlanta Campaign. Included are examples of structures, landscape scenes, battlefields, historical sites, and cityscapes. Kurtz arranged many of the images by event or geographic location and often would detail his observations on the reverse side of the photograph or around the border regarding the landscape and a detailed account of the event(s) that occurred at that location(s). The counties sub-series provides visual documention for a portion of the Atlanta Campaign beginning in north Georgia and ending in Atlanta, Georgia. Kurtz photographed existing structures mentioned in official reports and indicated on official maps; and battlefield features. He usually provided a few details about the specific event that occurred at the photographed location and then indicated additional information could be found in one of his notebooks, citing the notebook and page number. During the course of his research Kurtz maintained meticulous notes on his process as well as his observations, and the photographic materials he collected and created provide some of the evidence for his findings. When possible he collected images of the individuals he was researching, especially those individuals involved in Andrews' Raid. In many instances he noted the year he received the image, who supplied him with the copy or original, and brief biographical information about the individual.

Kurtz sought to be historically accurate in all aspects of his work and often gathered multiple images of the object or place from different time periods. A well represented example is the "General" and "Texas" locomotives and his observations regarding several of the photographs.

Kurtz documented a significant portion of his work as technical advisor for the production of the motion picture Gone With the Wind based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell. He photographed many of the principal actors during filming, production employees, scene sets, set designs, and production equipment. Kurtz also worked as technical advisor during the filming of The Great Locomotive Chase, a film based on Andrews’ Raid, and documented that work to a lesser extent.