24 photographs of Americans in the First and Second World Wars, from the U.S. National Archives and the Library of Congress, colorized by Ungray. Each one turns from the original to color as you scroll; tap a photo to see the original again.
The colors are the model's estimate, not a record: nobody wrote down the color of a scarf in 1918. Nothing was retouched, and the light and shadow of every original are kept exactly. The originals are in the public domain; each photo's source is under it.
August 14, 1945. The U.S. Navy's original caption: "New York City celebrating the surrender of Japan. They threw anything and kissed anybody in Times Square."
Photo: Lt. Jorgensen, U.S. Navy. U.S. National Archives, 80-G-377094. Archive record
Washington, D.C., April 1943. The archive title: "Sailor kissing his mother goodbye at the Greyhound bus depot." Photographed by Esther Bubley for the Office of War Information.
Photo: Esther Bubley, Office of War Information. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-DIG-fsa-8d27123. Archive record
March 1945. Tuskegee Airmen of the 332nd Fighter Group playing cards in the officers' club in the evening, at their air base in southern Italy.
Photo: Toni Frissell. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-13266. Archive record
July 7, 1943. From the Marine Corps caption: Private First Class Preston Toledo and Private First Class Frank Toledo, cousins and Navajo, attached to a Marine artillery regiment in the South Pacific, relay orders over a field radio in their native tongue.
U.S. Marine Corps photo. U.S. National Archives, 127-MN-57875. Archive record
June 1944. The original caption reads "See You in Berlin. Resolute faces of paratroopers just before they took off for the initial assault of D-Day." The man in front holds Gen. Eisenhower's D-Day message.
U.S. Army Air Forces photo. U.S. National Archives, 342-FH-51766AC. Archive record
U.S. Coast Guardsman Robert F. Griffin, from a Coast Guard photo series titled "Coast Guard Invader." The National Archives record names him but gives no date; a companion photo in the series shows a crewman on a Coast Guard-manned attack transport, a World War II assignment.
U.S. Coast Guard photo. U.S. National Archives, 26-G-3089. Archive record
New York, March 8, 1945. From the Navy caption: Cmdr. Thomas A. Gaylord, USN (Ret'd), administers the oath to five new Navy nurses. Second from the right is Phyllis Mae Dailey, the Navy's first African-American nurse.
U.S. Navy photo. U.S. National Archives, 80-G-48365. Archive record
"Riveter at Lockheed Aircraft Corp., Burbank, CA," from the U.S. Women's Bureau's World War II photo series "Women Working in Industry" (1940–1945).
U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau. U.S. National Archives, 86-WWT-3-67. Archive record
Daytona Beach, Florida, January 1943. The archive title: "Bethune-Cookman College. Girl welder in the NYA (National Youth Administration) school." Photographed by Gordon Parks for the Office of War Information.
Photo: Gordon Parks, Office of War Information. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3-014865-C. Archive record
1942. The Coast Guard's original caption calls 21-year-old Jack Cullen "the first American who actually came in contact with the enemy on the shores of the United States." In June 1942 he confronted four German saboteurs who had landed on Long Island from a submarine, and his report led to the capture of the spy ring.
U.S. Coast Guard photo. U.S. National Archives, 26-G-310. Archive record
1918. The original caption: "A soldier's Christmas box. One of the happy soldiers who received one of the boxes opening and enjoying a peep at the contents." From the American Red Cross files, received by the War Department on December 2, 1918.
Western Newspaper Union. U.S. National Archives, 165-WW-43C-16. Archive record
"Trackwomen, 1943. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company," from the U.S. Women's Bureau's World War II series "Women Working in Industry."
U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau. U.S. National Archives, 86-WWT-78-30. Archive record
December 1942. The archive caption: "Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. Third Officer Alice L. Kidwell, Saint Cloude, Minnesota, wearing the winter olive drab uniform of the WAACs."
Office of War Information. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USE6-D-007480. Archive record
March 1945. Edward C. Gleed, Tuskegee pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group, at the group's air base in southern Italy.
Photo: Toni Frissell. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-13269. Archive record
February 1944. The Navy caption: "Sailors who had heads clipped in bizarre designs during Neptune party aboard the USS Saratoga (CV-3)." A Neptune party is the Navy's initiation for sailors crossing the equator for the first time.
U.S. Navy photo. U.S. National Archives, 80-G-470778. Archive record
1918. The original caption: "Army Nurse in Official Uniform. U.S. Mobile Motor Unit." Received by the War Department on May 27, 1918.
Committee on Public Information. U.S. National Archives, 165-WW-58B-8. Archive record
Trier, Germany, January 23, 1919. The Signal Corps caption: "Mrs. George P. Hunt working at her daily job of unwrapping gum which is given to boys. Some of soldiers are gathered around her in conversation."
Photo: Sgt. Jeff Dickson, U.S. Army Signal Corps. U.S. National Archives, 111-SC-52657. Archive record
U.S. Coast Guardsman Clarence W. King on a Coast Guard-manned attack transport, from the Coast Guard series "Coast Guard Invader." The National Archives record gives no date.
U.S. Coast Guard photo. U.S. National Archives, 26-G-3085. Archive record
"A group of women prepare to take over maintenance responsibilities for aircraft," from the U.S. Women's Bureau's World War II series "Women Working in Industry" (1940–1945).
U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau. U.S. National Archives, 86-WWT-60-7. Archive record
1918. "U.S. soldiers & German prisoners," as the Bain News Service captioned the glass negative.
Bain News Service. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-27877. Archive record
London, 1918. The original caption: "U.S. Sailors in London and British Red Cross. Sailors being bedecked with flags by a pretty British Red Cross nurse tag day to raise funds for the Red Cross."
International Film Service. U.S. National Archives, 165-WW-38C-5. Archive record
U.S. Coast Guardsman Vincent Farrell, in a Coast Guard photo titled "Coast Guard 'Buccaneer.'" The National Archives record gives no date.
U.S. Coast Guard photo. U.S. National Archives, 26-G-2208. Archive record
1942. "Portrait of a U.S. Army paratrooper," photographed by Arthur Rothstein for the Office of War Information.
Photo: Arthur Rothstein, Office of War Information. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW33-000732-C. Archive record
Peñasco, New Mexico, January 1943. "Marjorie Muller, Red Cross nurse," photographed by John Collier Jr. for the Office of War Information.
Photo: John Collier Jr., Office of War Information. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-DIG-fsa-8d24622. Archive record
A service portrait on the mantel, snapshots sent home, a unit photo in a shoebox. Scan them, or take a phone photo of the print: Ungray finds the print, colorizes it at full resolution and never redraws a face. You can recolor anything you know better, such as the ribbon on a uniform, and make a short reveal video to share with the family.