Historical Portrait
[Civil War veteran John W. Pollard, who served under the name of Private Jackson Ridgway in the 83rd U.S. Colored Troops (USCT), in Grand Army of the Republic uniform with medal]
![[Civil War veteran John W. Pollard, who served under the name of Private Jackson Ridgway in the 83rd U.S. Colored Troops (USCT), in Grand Army of the Republic uniform with medal], 1906 (Library of Congress)](/api/img/civil-war-veteran-john-w-pollard-who-served-under-the-name-of-private-jackson-ri-NOO0FpQI4rodrjcplvYO.jpg)
Archive record
1 photograph : print ; sheet 14 x 10 cm, mount 17 x 11 cm (cabinet card format) | Photograph shows portrait of identified Union veteran John W. Pollard, formerly known as Jackson Ridgway or Wridgway, who had been an escaped slave.
About this photograph
This cabinet card shows John W. Pollard, who had escaped slavery and enlisted in the 83rd U.S. Colored Troops under the name Jackson Ridgway. The photograph was made in 1906, more than four decades after the war's end.
Pollard wears the uniform and medal of the Grand Army of the Republic, the fraternal organisation of Union veterans founded in 1866. Members wore this distinctive regalia to encampments and parades rather than their wartime dress, which is why many late portraits show elderly veterans in these uniforms. The organisation grew into a substantial political force, campaigning for pensions and running memorial observances at its local posts for decades.
The photographer was J. A. Wolfe. The image is in cabinet card format, a type of mounted photograph print.
Studio portraiture held particular significance in Black communities of this period. Sitting for a formal portrait was a deliberate assertion of dignity and standing at a time when published images of African Americans were dominated by caricature. The archive record identifies Pollard by name, preserving what catalogue records of the era often omitted. Those records frequently left Black sitters unnamed while naming white ones, so when identification exists it reflects better documentation rather than standard practice.
Compiled from the catalogue record and reference notes on the formats and events involved. The archive record above is the primary source.
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