This collection includes twenty-one sepia portraits of Nashville-area members of the Knights Templar, an order of the Freemasons, taken sometime between 1867 and 1877. The photos were produced at the studio of C. C. Giers, and feature red hand-tinted details as well as the name of each man on the reverse.

This set of sepia portrait photographs (circa 1867-1877) depicts twenty-one Freemasons from Nashville and the surrounding areas. Each man is dressed in mason regalia, with red hand-tinted details that indicate they were members of the Knights Templar, a masonic order in which members must profess a belief in Christianity. Many of these men were prominent members of their communities, including merchants, lawyers, bankers, and physicians, and a number were Confederate soldiers and officers. Included is a self-portrait of C. C. Giers, a copy of which is also held at the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution. Some of these photographs and others by Giers are available at the Library of Congress and the Tennessee State Library and Archives.