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32 Colorized Black and White Photos That Will Change How You Look at History

History doesn't have to be so black and white.

colorized black and white photos

Stumbling across a black and white photo in an old book is an intriguing find for history buffs. Yet it can sometimes be hard to connect with a black and white photo on a personal level. The subjects are faded and distant; we can’t gauge the color of their eyes or the flush in their cheeks, or see the intricate lines in their face.

Your perception of history may change entirely when you discover that people across the world colorize black and white photos. Here are some of the most compelling colorized black and white photos on the web—images that practically bring history to life.

Abraham Lincoln, 1865

abraham lincoln colorized photo
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  • Photo Credit: Jordan J. Lloyd

King George V at Buckingham Palace (1914) before the outbreak of war

king george v colorized photo
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  • Photo Credit: Marina Amaral

J. Hamilton Lewis, representative for Washington (1897-1899) and Senator for Illinois (1913-1919, 1931-1939). He was the first Senator to hold the title of 'Whip' in the Senate, later served once more as the 5th Whip, and served in the Spanish-American war - ca. 1913

j hamilton lewis colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Colored History

Erwin Rommel as a Lieutenant, wearing a Pour le Mérite after the Battle of Caporetto, Italy 1917

erwin rommel colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Colored History

Marie Curie in her laboratory in Paris, 1912

marie curie colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Marina Amaral

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his children with Cossack officers, 1916

romanov family colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Marina Amaral

Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan at Antietam, October 2nd/3rd, 1862

abraham and mcclellan colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Colored History

Richard Pierce–14 years of age, works as a Western Union Telegraph Messenger. Wilmington, Delaware, ca. May 1910

western union telegraph messenger colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Colored History

Thomas Edison with his second phonograph, photographed by Matthew Brady in Washington, April 1878

thomas edison colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Colored History

Portrait of a Sámi immigrant, Ellis Island, 1910

sami immigrant
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  • Photo Credit: Jordan J. Lloyd

School at Anthoston, Kentucky. By Lewis Hine, 1916

schoolhouse kentucky colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Marina Amaral

The Eiffel Tower, July 1888

eiffel tower colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Jordan J. Lloyd

Suffragists in Parade, c.1910-1915

suffragists parade colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Photo Retrofit

The Cow Boy, Sturgis, Dakota Territory, c. 1888

cowboy colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Colored History

Confederate soldier and family, c. 1860s

confederate soldier colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Jordan J. Lloyd

Harry Houdini steps into a crate at New York Harbor as part of an escape stunt, July 7, 1912

harry houdini colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Dana R Keller

Post officers model their new Autopeds scooters, Washington DC, 1917

post officers colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Richard Pierce

Licking blocks of ice during heat wave in 1912, NYC

nyc heat wave colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Sanna Dullaway

Booker T. Washington in his Tuskegee University office, ca. 1906

booker t washington colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Colorized History

The Jersey Shore c. 1905 “Boardwalk at Asbury Park”

ashbury park boardwalk colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Ryan Urban

Charlie Chaplin at 27, no makeup, 1916

charlie chaplin colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Manuel De Leonardo

French soldiers during the Franco Prussian War, 1870

franco prussian war
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  • Photo Credit: Marina Amaral

Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author and poet, 1869

hans christian andersen colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Dana R Keller

Alfred R. Waud, renowned sketch artist, known mostly for work as an artist correspondent during the American Civil War, seen here sketching at Gettysburg, July 1863

alfred r waud colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Colorized History

Silent film actress Mary Pickford, c. 1920

mary pickford colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Dana R Keller

Edgar Allen Poe, 1848

Edgar Allen Poe colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Dana R Keller

Italian immigrants arrive at Ellis Island, 1905. Their worried expressions are caused by lost baggage.

italian immigrants ellis island colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Marina Amaral

Walt Whitman, 1887

walt whitman colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Dana R Keller

Seth Kinman, one of the earliest settlers of California, sitting on a chair he gave to President Andrew Johnson made out of a grizzly bear. He also gave a chair made of elk horns to President Lincoln, ca. 1865 

seth kinman colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Colored History

Japanese Archers c. 1860

japanese archers
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  • Photo Credit: Jordan J. Lloyd

Mary Winsor, founder and president of the Limited Suffrage Society, holds a sign during the American suffrage movement; ca. 1917 

mary winsor colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Richard Pierce

John L. Burns, the 'Old Hero of Gettysburg,' with gun and crutches, ca. July 1863

john burns colorized
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  • Photo Credit: Colorized History