“We have a small photo album of about 18 Civil War soldiers, and they’re all Black soldiers. So these are teeny-tiny little photographs on tin. And the album is small enough to fit into a vest pocket. And so the story is the captain was white, his soldiers were Black. And they held a special place in his heart because apparently he had gotten really ill and they helped to nurse him back to health. So for the rest of his life, he had this album to always remember these soldiers.

“Photographs are not just historical evidence. They are, in so many ways, a reflection of humanity. And if you can understand the humanity of the subjects captured or the people who actually own these photographs, you might be able to get in touch with your own humanity in a very different kind of way as well. And I think that’s what happened to so many of us during that meeting when the family came in to show us the album.”