A large amount of images that are in the digital archive of the Library of Congress are in the public domain because they were created with government funding, like the Farm Security Administration, or were donated by the photographer or collector. Many images of more recent history have not been donated to the library yet or are in other holdings like the National Archives. 

Please enjoy looking back through a collection of images from the photographic archive of America, starting with the Civil War, the first war that was extensively photographed. Also included: Child Labor, Native Americas, Ellis Island, WWI, Suffragettes, Prohibition, FSA photographs, WWII (at home), the Civil Rights Movement, and closing with a few contemporary images from the Carol Highsmith archive documenting America.

​All images from the Library of Congress