An Album of Stereo Cards

from Insurrecto

“On the Smithsonian website, search 'Philippine insurrection,' and you come across them. Archived stereo pairs from the years 1899 to 1904, the bleak years of U.S. imperial aggression before the surrender of the last Filipino forces to American occupation. You may as well just copy and paste the gist. Soldiers wading across a shallow river; advancing through open country, et cetera. A group of men with crates of food on the beach, et cetera. A burned section of Manila. The burned quarters of rebel president, Aguinaldo. Firefighting measures. Artillery. Ducks swimming. Children wading. Soldier burying a dead “insurgent.” Soldier showing off the barrel of his Colt .45. Et cetera.

 “Et cetera. A history in ellipses, too obscure to know. Not to mention the words in quotes and not. 'Insurgents' are in quotes. Insurrection is not. Rebel is a problematic term. History is not fully annotated or adequately contemplated in online archives. This troubles translators, scholars, and passing memorabilia seekers looking for cheap thrills.

 “The puzzling duplication becomes mere trope, a cliché. Photographic captions rebuke losers and winners alike. 'Soldiers,' for instance, refer only to white males. 'Burned' does not suggest who has done the burning. 'Firefighting measures' is a generous term, given the circumstances.”

I first saw stereo cards, many of them doubled pictures of carnage, in folders labeled “Philippine Insurrection” at the Library of Congress. (I told the librarians they need to change the name of those folders.) Later I discovered I could buy them on eBay. These are some cards in my collection.