Tomb of President James K. Polk

  • Creator: George N. Barnard (1819-1902)
  • Title: Tomb of President James K. Polk
  • Date: 1864
  • Description: This photograph shows the tomb of President James Knox Polk during what appears to be winter. There is a tree in the foreground, a brick structure to the left, and other structures behind and below in the distance.
  • Historical Note: Barnard was a photographer in the Topographical Branch of the Department of Engineers, Army of the Cumberland, United States Army. He traveled to Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga in 1864. This image is one half of a stereograph, a photographic presentation of two images shot at slightly different vantage points, which, pasted to a card, would create a three-dimensional view. Stereographs are the predecessors to modern View Masters. Photographers working for the Army would often find a secondary outlet for their images through companies which would convert the images into stereographs for sale to the public. The Polk tomb would be an ideal image for stereographic conversion. During the Civil War, the tomb was located on the grounds of Polk Place, the home where Polk and his wife Sarah Childress Polk retired at the end of his term as President. Polk Place, which was on Capitol Hill, is now gone, and the tomb has been relocated to the grounds of the state capitol.
  • Institution: Library of Congress
  • Publisher: Digital Initiatives, James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University
  • Rights: Images reproduced on this website are intended for individual, educational use only. For research inquiries about specific objects or requests for high resolution images, contact the Library of Congress.
  • URL: http://cdm15838.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/shades
Detail