Where is the video link??
Well, motion pictures were not created for three more decades after the Civil War … so APRIL FOOL’S!
In 1889, George Eastman and Kodak produced the film Thomas Edison needed for his movie machines, with the first screenings occurring in1893.
If you were fooled, you are not alone, as moving footage from the Civil War has been requested from our motion picture collections by scholars and filmmakers alike.
Speaking of filmmakers, we thank Ken Burns for playing along with our joke! Burns archives his own film collection at Eastman House, including his celebrated The Civil War documentary. He has been honored by the museum twice with the George Eastman Honorary Scholar title and George Eastman Medal of Honor.
Eastman House does hold an unparalleled collection of Civil War-era photographs, of which many are on view now as part of a three-exhibition display commemorating the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. Featured are many films from the 20th century that depict fictionalized stories of the war.