Ward, John Langdon, 1841-1915.

John Langdon Ward, born October 25, 1841, was commissioned Captain of the 50th Regiment Massachusetts Infantry, September 15, 1862. Ordered with the regiment to Louisiana, he served with the 19th Corps through the siege of Port Hudson. Ward was commissioned Major of the 3rd Infantry Corps d'Afrique, the third Regiment of black troops in the United States, changed to the 75th United States Colored Infantry on July 24, 1863. He was detailed to the staff of the Corps under General George L. Andrews as Commissary of Musters. When the Corps organization was broken up Ward resigned his commission, July 21, 1864, and moved to New York City where he studied and eventually practiced law.

Lantern slides were a widespread form of entertainment in the 19th and early-20th centuries. A lantern slide consists of a glass plate containing a positive image developed in gelatin, wet-, or dry-plate collodion, a clear cover glass to protect the image, sometimes a paper or painted border, and the whole bound together with paper tape running around the edges. The positive could be contact printed or enlarger/reducer printed from a negative. Sets of slides could be purchased from many different vendors or the photographic hobbyist could produce their own. Slide manufacturing kits containing the sensitized photographic plate, the cover glass, borders, and tape could be purchased for home use.