Rare Civil War Sketchbook Now Available Online
The sketchbook of a Civil War prisoner is now available via Digital Collections @ UM. Confederate soldier John Jacob Omenhausser was imprisoned at the Union prison camp in Point Lookout, Maryland, from June 1864 to June 1865, near the end of the American Civil War. While at Point Lookout, Omenhausser documented prison life in sketchbooks with vibrant watercolors. His paintings were annotated with captions and dialog and, while intending to be humorous, often touch upon the grimmer aspects of camp life. Because he had relatives in the North, Omenhausser may have had an easier time obtaining supplies to make his life more bearable during that year. The University of Maryland Libraries owns one of only a handful of Omenhausser sketchbooks in existence, and our volume, with 62 color paintings, is the largest single collection. The sketchbook resides in the University of Maryland’s Historical Manuscripts unit, and is part of the Maryland Manuscripts Collection, which consists of approximately 5,200 individually cataloged letters, diaries, military and court records, ledger books, and printed ephemera (broadsides, handbills, etc.) related to the Maryland region–principally dating from 1750 to 1900.
American Memory at the Library of Congress has 43 images online from the Omenhausser sketchbook located at the New York Historical Society.