History Comes Alive

If this is what scholars think it is, we've found a priceless artifact.

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - From a distance it looks like a nondescript Civil War-era photograph: Union soldiers and townspeople crowd around the grand memorial arch that marks the entrance to Soldiers' Cemetery.

But zoom in closer, really close, and a startling image takes shape at the center of the crowd. A tall, slim figure astride a horse. A familiar profile. That signature stovepipe hat, a white gloved hand raised in salute.

Could it be President Abraham Lincoln shortly before delivering his Gettysburg Address?

Some Civil War scholars and experts in early photography believe it is.

It is one of two three-dimensional images taken, experts say, within minutes of each other as Lincoln arrived Nov. 19, 1863, to dedicate the cemetery just four months after the bloody battle. If it is Lincoln, the photograph holds enormous historical importance and adds two invaluable images to the slim archive of Lincoln photographs. (H/T - The Philadelphia Inquirer)

The history buff in me truly hopes the photo is that of Lincoln, but the realist in me wants to reserve judgment until positive identification can be made. Far too few people know or care anything about American History, and this would prove to be an invaluable learning tool for us.