The inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, 1865

1897 63145 U.S. Copyright Office
"Photograph by an unknown cameraman, probably Gardner, taken at the east front of the Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., March 4, 1865. Discovered by Lloyd Ostendorf in the files of the National Archives in February 1962, this scene appears to be the earliest of the Second Inaugural views which shows Lincoln." (Source: Ostendorf, p. 202)
Copyrighted by C.S. Butler, Washington, D.C., 1897.

Ostendorf, no. 105
Copyright deposit; 1897.
Published in: Lincoln's photographs: a complete album / by Lloyd Ostendorf. Dayton, OH: Rockywood Press, 1998, p. 202.

Alexander Gardner (October 17, 1821 - December 10, 1882) was a Scottish photographer who is best known for his photographs of the American Civil War. He emigrated to the United States in 1856 and worked as a photographer in Mathew Brady's studio. Gardner was sent to document the American Civil War and produced some of the most iconic images of the conflict, including photographs of the battlefields at Antietam and Gettysburg. After the war, Gardner photographed President Lincoln and the American West, including images of Native Americans, settlers, and the construction of the transcontinental railroad.