Edmund Ruffin

Edmund Ruffin, a prominent southern nationalist, agriculturalist, writer, and former state senator (1823–1827), is the subject of this glass-plate photograph taken in the 1860s. Ruffin was one of the foremost champions of states' rights, slavery, and secession. This image is part of the Brady-Handy Collection of negatives at the Library of Congress. The collection combines the work of Mathew B. Brady and his nephew Levin D. Handy, who ran several photographic studios in Washington, D.C. The majority of the negatives are portraits taken during and after the Civil War, but the collection also includes views of Washington, D.C.