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United Daughters of the Confederacy visual arts materials

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.VIS470

Scope and Contents

The bulk of this collection contains photographs documenting Confederate monuments and cemeteries in several Georgia cities. Of particular note are images of the DeKalb County Confederate Monument and Savannah Civil War Memorial, as well as an enlarged photograph of the orignal concept for the Stone Mountain carving. Also part of the collection are images of UDC activities and identified members of the Georgia Division and various Atlanta chapters, including Atlanta Chapter No. 18 President Isabell Smith Buzzett (1916-2007) and family. All locations are in Atlanta unless otherwise noted.

Dates

  • approximately 1850-1987, undated

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

This material is protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U.S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.

Biographical / Historical

In the years after the Civil War, several organizations composed of women whose husbands and fathers had served in the Confederate Army came into existence. In 1894, a group of these amalgamated into the National Association of the Daughters of the Confederacy, later known as the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). The activities of the UDC have included establishing cemeteries, erecting historical markers and monuments, sponsoring scholarships, and organizing commemorative events, all in promotion of the Confederacy or in support of Confederate descendants. Following Reconstruction, the UDC was one of several organizations to promote the Lost Cause mythology of the Civil War and actively supported the Ku Klux Klan during the Jim Crow era.

Extent

274 image(s) (207 color photographic prints, 43 black and white photographic prints, 11 cigarette cards, three cabinet cards, two cartes-de-visite, two drawings, one daguerreotype, one map, one postcard, one rendering, one silhouette, and one tintype)

Language

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically according to titles supplied by staff. Control numbers are intentionally out of order to maintain alphabetical order.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Some images in this collection have been digitized and are available at: https://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/digital/collection/p17222coll40.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift, 1980, with subsequent additions.

Related Materials

United Daughters of the Confederacy collection, MSS 765, Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center

Bias in Description

As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information. We choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, and bias is reflected in our descriptions, which may not accurately convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materials. Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment. In working with this collection, we often re-use language used by the former owners of the material. This language provides context but often includes bias and prejudices reflective of the time in which it was created. The Kenan Research Center’s work is ongoing to implement reparative language where Library of Congress subject terms are inaccurate and obsolete.

Kenan Research Center welcomes feedback and questions regarding our archival descriptions. If you encounter harmful, offensive, or insensitive terminology or descriptions, please let us know by emailing reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Your comments are essential to our work to create inclusive and thoughtful description.

Processing Information

This collection was processed in 2025.

Subjects

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
United Daughters of the Confederacy visual arts materials
Subtitle
ahc.VIS470
Author
Ben Conklin
Date
April 2025
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center Repository

http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/
Contact:
130 West Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta GA 30305
404-814-4040