Military Images Magazine

What Military Images Magazine does

Military Images Magazine is a quarterly print publication founded in 1979 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, focused exclusively on Civil War portrait photography and the human stories behind the images. It is privately held by editor Ronald S. Coddington, who became the publication's fourth owner in August 2013, and operates with 1-10 employees. The magazine serves a niche but engaged community of Civil War historians, antique photography collectors, genealogists, and institutional libraries, with the annual subscription priced at $30 effective January 1, 2025 (raised from $24.95). Distribution is augmented by JSTOR for academic access, and the editorial archive constitutes nearly five decades of curated, identification-driven content.

The company operates a multi-revenue-stream model anchored by quarterly subscriptions and single-issue sales, supplemented by print advertising, book sales (including a forthcoming Johns Hopkins University Press title), and traveling exhibits developed with institutional partners such as the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Its research and identification work is embodied in the Photo Sleuth platform and most recently in a partnership with the Seminary Ridge Museum announced March 15, 2026, applying AI alongside traditional methods to identify approximately 500 unnamed patients. The publication's editorial credibility is reflected in multiple 2025 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award nominations and a win by contributor John Walsh.

Commercially, Military Images has built an institutional ecosystem through the Bertholf Education Program, which has grown to 65+ members including the New York State Military Museum, embedding the title into museum acquisition workflows. Strategic partnerships — with Seminary Ridge Museum (AI/research, 2026), the National Museum of Civil War Medicine (exhibits, 2025), and HistoryFix (streaming, December 2025) — extend the brand into adjacent content and distribution channels, while traveling exhibits such as "Faces of Civil War Nurses" and "Faces of Freedom" broaden geographic and thematic reach.

Name

Military Images Magazine

Legal name

Military Images

Website

https://militaryimagesmagazine.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Military Images Magazine is a quarterly print publication founded in 1979 that focuses exclusively on Civil War portrait photography, serving historians, collectors, genealogists, and institutional libraries through subscriptions, books, and traveling exhibits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civil War History Publications

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Culture & Literary Magazines (MPAJAEAN)

Keywords

• Civil war history publication
• Portrait photography magazine
• Historical photo archive
• Subscription publishing
• Military history research

Headquarters

HQ city

Arlington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Magazine Subscriptions: Quarterly print and digital subscriptions including Print Edition (four 80-page issues annually), Digital Edition (quarterly PDF plus premium website access), and Print + Digital Bundle
2. Single Issue Sales: Individual magazine issues and special issues sold through ShopMilitaryImages.com
3. Advertising: Combined print and digital advertising campaigns targeting engaged Civil War enthusiast audience; plans available for small and large businesses
4. Book Sales: Civil War photograph books and publications sold through official store
5. Traveling Exhibits: Traveling exhibit services bringing Civil War images and stories to museums, libraries, and historic sites

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Military Images Magazine publishes a quarterly print and digital magazine dedicated exclusively to American Civil War portrait photography, featuring deep analysis, case studies, material-culture features, and personal narratives. The company also operates a Traveling Exhibits Program, the Kenneth J. Bertholf Jr. Civil War History Education Program distributing subscriptions to institutional partners, and sells books, single issues, and special issues through ShopMilitaryImages.com.

Product overview

Military Images Magazine is a quarterly publication dedicated exclusively to American Civil War portrait photography, established in 1979. The company offers three subscription tiers (Print, Digital, and Print+Digital Bundle), distributes archives through JSTOR, and operates ShopMilitaryImages.com for single issues and books. Beyond traditional publishing, the company runs a Traveling Exhibits Program featuring shows like Faces of Freedom and Faces of Civil War Nurses, the Bertholf Education Program (66 institutional members), the Photo Sleuth identification column, the Life on the Civil War Research Trail YouTube series, and the Sutler's Row Facebook marketplace.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Life on the Civil War Research Trail: YouTube series created by Ronald S. Coddington, editor and publisher of Military Images magazine, sharing unique stories, anecdotes, narratives, and discoveries that humanize the Civil War period.

Products and services

• Print Edition Subscription

Quantifiable outcome

• 65+ institutions in education program network
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Rich Mountain Battlefield Foundation and Davis & Elkins CollegeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 April 2026Military Images represented Civil War portrait photography at the symposium 'Chronicling the Fight: Art & Photography of the Civil War' held near the historic Rich Mountain battlefield in Elkins, West Virginia.
• Seminary Ridge Museum and Education CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 March 2026Partnership on new exhibit featuring soldiers treated at Seminary Hospital after the Battle of Gettysburg. Military Images magazine is partnering with the museum on a project to locate original wartime portraits of nearly 500 patients, surgeons, and attendants, using AI and traditional research methods to identify matches.
• Lincoln Depot MuseumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 June 2025Hosted the traveling exhibit 'Faces of Freedom: African American Faces of the Civil War Era' from June 7 through July 12, 2025. The exhibit featured portraits and stories of Black soldiers who served in the U.S. Colored Troops and Navy.
• National Museum of Civil War MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 May 2025Collaboration on traveling exhibit 'Faces of Civil War Nurses' featuring 20 life-size portraits of women who served as nurses during the Civil War. The exhibit premiered at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum and traveled to the Andrew Carnegie Free Library.
• Camp Nelson National MonumentcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Faces of Freedom exhibit made Kentucky debut at Camp Nelson National Monument as part of the park's 160th-anniversary commemoration. Camp Nelson was a major recruitment center for United States Colored Troops.
• New York State Military MuseumcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerJoined the Kenneth J. Bertholf Jr. Civil War History Education Program as the 65th member institution. The program provides complimentary subscriptions to museums, battlefields, libraries, and historical sites.
• Kenneth J. Bertholf Jr. Civil War History Education ProgramcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerEducation program providing complimentary Military Images subscriptions to 65+ battlefields, museums, libraries, archives, and historic sites. Participating institutions include Gettysburg National Military Park, Harpers Ferry, National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Library of Congress, and National Portrait Gallery.
• Hubbard House Underground Railroad MuseumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFaces of Freedom traveling exhibit first appeared at this museum in Ashtabula, Ohio in 2019. The museum was the last stop for slaves fleeing to freedom along the Underground Railroad to Canada.
• Goodridge Freedom Center and Underground Railroad MuseumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFaces of Freedom exhibit traveled to York, Pennsylvania in 2024 after COVID pause.
• Manassas National Military ParkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFaces of Freedom exhibit displayed at Visitor Center from September 2 through November 1, 2024.
• Johns Hopkins University PresscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublished 'Faces of Civil War Nurses' book by Ronald S. Coddington, which serves as the foundation for the traveling exhibit of the same name.
• Fort Donelson RelicsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJohn Walsh, founder of Fort Donelson Relics, authored a special issue on Fort Donelson. He has spent decades preserving relics and advancing understanding of soldiers who fought at the site.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Smithsonian Magazine: General-interest cultural/history magazine from Smithsonian Institution with photography-driven storytelling. Overlaps with Military Images in cultural/historical content and museum partnerships but at much larger scale and broader editorial scope.
• HistoryNet / Weider History Group: Publisher of multiple military history magazines (Civil War Times, America's Civil War, WWII History, etc.) under the HistoryNet digital umbrella. Comparable as a multi-title military history subscription publisher, though at far greater scale and broader editorial portfolio.

Direct peers

• America's Civil War (Weider History Group / HistoryNet): Long-running Civil War magazine from HistoryNet covering campaigns, soldiers, and primary sources. Comparable subscription publication targeting overlapping Civil War enthusiast readership with similar print + digital distribution model.
• Prologue Magazine (National Archives): Quarterly publication from the U.S. National Archives featuring historical documents, photographs, and research. Comparable in delivering archival/primary-source-driven historical content to engaged readers, with similar JSTOR-like scholarly preservation.
• MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History: Quarterly journal covering military history broadly with photography and historical narrative features. Comparable to Military Images as a niche subscription publication serving serious military history enthusiasts and scholars, though it covers a broader sweep of conflicts beyond the Civil War.
• Naval History Magazine (U.S. Naval Institute): Magazine from U.S. Naval Institute covering naval military history with photography and primary sources. Comparable niche military history subscription model with institutional backing and similar reader demographic of historians and enthusiasts.
• Civil War Monitor: Civil War-focused history magazine covering battles, soldiers, and material culture with high-quality photography. Directly comparable as a subscription magazine targeting the same Civil War enthusiast and historian segments as Military Images.
• Army History (U.S. Army Center of Military History): Official U.S. Army historical magazine featuring scholarly articles on military history. Comparable in scholarly standards, institutional distribution, and award recognition (Army Historical Foundation awards), directly overlapping with Military Images' award categories.

Emerging players

• Cobblestone (US History Magazine for Kids): Children's American history magazine from Carus Publishing covering U.S. history including the Civil War with images and narratives. Comparable as a niche history subscription publication, though targeting an educational/juvenile segment rather than adult enthusiasts.

Others

• JSTOR (scholarly archive): Digital library that hosts Military Images' archive. Not a competitor but a key distribution and preservation partner; comparable as an enabling platform that extends the magazine's reach into academic and library markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail
• Facebookfacebook.com/militaryimages
• Instagraminstagram.com/militaryimagesmagazine
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/military-images-magazine

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Military Images Magazine