--- title: Civil War Era Robert E. Lee Slave Photograph Found in Virginia description: A rare photograph of a slave from Robert E. Lee's household was revealed Thursday canonical: https://time.com/3490263/civil-war-photo/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-10T15:25:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:42:58.318Z article:section: History og:title: See a Rare Photo of a Slave from Robert E. Lee's Household og:description: The image was revealed Thursday og:url: https://time.com/3490263/civil-war-photo/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt061fa0e122365f86/69875fe8e20a878544a825df/civil-war-photo-slaves.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Selina Gray Robert E. Lee Civil War Slaves Arlington Cemetary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See a Rare Photo of a Slave from Robert E. Lee's Household twitter:description: The image was revealed Thursday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt061fa0e122365f86/69875fe8e20a878544a825df/civil-war-photo-slaves.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See a Rare Civil War-Era Photo of a Slave from Robert E. Lee's Household > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Oct 10, 2014 3:25 PM UTC  National Park Service curator Kim Robinson holds the photo of Selina Gray, right, who was in charge to care for Arlington House where Gen. Robert E. Lee had lived in for 30 years, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va on Oct. 9, 2014. National Park Service curator Kim Robinson holds the photo of Selina Gray, right, who was in charge to care for Arlington House where Gen. Robert E. Lee had lived in for 30 years, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va on Oct. 9, 2014. Jose Luis Magana—AP  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Oct 10, 2014 3:25 PM UTC The American Civil War was a remarkable conflict for many reasons — not least of which is that it’s widely [considered](http://www.civilwar.org/photos/3d-photography-special/photography-and-the-civil-war.html) to be the first photographed war. Never before had those removed from the battlefield by geography or by time been able to see up close what it looked like. But, compared to photographs of soldiers and generals, photographs of those over whom they fought — the slaves of that era — are much rarer, which is part of the reason why the image above is so noteworthy. On Thursday, [the Associated Press reported](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/cad0b00482ff4cab853b54bf0afb716b/slave-photo-discovered-robert-e-lees-home) that the National Park Service had revealed the image, which shows Selina Gray and two younger girls. Gray was head housekeeper at the Arlington, Va., home of General Robert E. Lee. It bears the inscription “Gen Lees Slaves Arlington Va.” A Park Service spokeswoman told the AP that such portrait-style photography of slaves was extremely unusual because they were thought of as property. According to [Arlington House’s official website](http://www.nps.gov/arho/historyculture/gray.htm), when the Union army seized Lee’s home, Gray helped protect many Lee family heirlooms that had once belonged to George Washington. And now another artifact of the past will join Arlington House’s history: this photo will go on display to the public on Saturday. **_See more photographs from the Civil War era here on TIME.com:_** [Faces of the Civil War](http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2064128,00.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3490263/civil-war-photo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3490263/civil-war-photo/"},"headline":"See a Rare Civil War-Era Photo of a Slave from Robert E. 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