The photograph spotted on eBay shows Selina Norris Gray, right, who had responsibility for the Arlington House the Lees had lived in for 30 years. (National Park Service) 
 
 When Robert E. Lee’s wife, Mary, fled Arlington House at the start of the Civil War, she gave her personal slave, Selina Norris Gray, the keys to the mansion and responsibility for the grand house the Lees had lived in for 30 years. 
 
 Gray fulfilled her duties. She is famously credited with saving from marauding Union soldiers numerous heirlooms belonging to George Washington that were stored in the house. 
 
 Now the National Park Service, which administers Arlington House, has acquired what it says is a rare and previously unknown photograph of Gray and, apparently, two of her eight children. 
 
 The photograph was spotted last month on the Internet auction site eBay by Park Service volunteer Dean DeRosa. The seller, in England, had found the photo in a box of “unwanted” pictures at a British version of a yard sale. 
 
 A Park Service statement said that its nonprofit partner, Save Historic Arlington House, bid on the photograph and, “against stiff competition,” won. 
 
 “This is a big deal,” National Park Service spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles said Thursday. 
 
 “It’s in­cred­ibly rare to have photos of slaves that we can identify,” she said. “Since slaves were property, it’s really hard to identify the people in images like this. This is a priceless item to add to our collection.” 
 
 She said the Park Service is sure the double image, which is identified on the back only as “Gen Lees Slaves Arlington Va,” depicts Gray, the older woman in the picture, and probably her children. 
 
 The Park Service was able to compare the new photo with an identified photo of Gray already in its collection. Anzelmo-Sarles said the new photo is believed to have been taken outside Gray’s slave quarters at Arlington. 
 
 Arlington House had Washington heirlooms because Mary Lee was the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington, the president’s wife. And Mary Lee’s father, George Washington Parke Custis, had been raised by the Washingtons. 
 
 The Union army took over Arlington on May 24, 1861, after Robert E. Lee joined the Confederacy and his family left the mansion, which contained Washington china, furniture, and art work. 
 
 Gray tried to keep track of Washington and Lee valuables in the house. 
 
 When Gray found that some of the heirlooms had been stolen, she confronted the soldiers and told them not to touch any of “Mrs. Lee’s things,” according to the Park Service. 
 
 Gray, whose parents had also been slaves, then complained to Union Gen. Irvin McDowell, and the remaining heirlooms were sent to the Patent Office for safekeeping and posterity. 
 
 “She had incredible courage,” Anzelmo-Sarles said. “So we owe a lot to being able to tell the story of our first president to this enslaved woman.” 
 
 Gray was freed in December 1862, according to the will of Custis, who ordered that his slaves be freed five years after his death, Anzelmo-Sarles said. He died in 1857. 
 
 Gray and her family bought land near Arlington and grew and sold vegetables. She died in 1907. 
 
 The Park Service said the photograph will be unveiled to the public at 2 p.m. Saturday as part of a special program on African American history at Arlington House. 

 WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Park Service has acquired a rare Civil War-era photograph of an enslaved woman who helped save Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's home in Arlington, Virginia. 
 
 National Park Service Spokeswoman Jennifer Mummart holds the photo of Selina Gray at the site where was taken, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. The National Park... (Associated Press) 
 
 National Park Service curator Kim Robinson holds the photo of Selina Gray, right, who was in charge to care for Arlington House where Gen. Robert E. Lee had lived in for 30 years, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014,... (Associated Press) 
 
 The previously unknown photograph depicts Selina Gray, the head housekeeper to Lee and his family, along with two girls. The photograph was unveiled Thursday at the Arlington House plantation overlooking the nation's capital that was home to Lee and dozens of slaves before the Civil War. 
 
 An inscription on the back of the image reads "Gen Lees Slaves Arlington Va." 
 
 Park officials said this is only the second known photograph taken of slaves at Arlington. 
 
 "It's extremely rare to have an identified photo of an enslaved person," said National Park Service spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles. "Since slaves were considered property, it's very rare to have a photo where you can identify the people in the photo." 
 
 Gray is noted in history books for helping to save Arlington House after Lee's family left and the plantation was captured by Union troops during the Civil War. 
 
 Arlington House was originally built as a monument to George Washington. Lee's wife, Mary Custis Lee, entrusted the home to Gray, and she later confronted a Union general about soldiers pilfering Washington family heirlooms from the house. She was able to have the items safeguarded. 
 
 The photograph was purchased on eBay in September for $700 after a volunteer found it online. The seller was based in England and found the photo in a box of unwanted images. The nonprofit Save Arlington House Inc. donated funds to acquire the image. 
 
 The photograph will be unveiled to the public Saturday, and it will be used in future exhibits after Arlington House and its slave quarters are restored over the next two years. Historians will study the image and hope to learn more about it.
– The National Park Service has found—on eBay—only the second photo known to exist of a famous slave owned by Robert E. Lee and and his wife, reports AP. The image, bought by the service for $700, shows Selina Gray and two younger girls, possibly her children. Gray served as the Lees' head housekeeper in Arlington, Va. During the Civil War, while Lee was off leading the Confederate army, she famously confronted raiding Union soldiers and told them to keep their hands off "Mrs. Lee's things," reports the Washington Post. She is credited with preserving scores of heirlooms at Arlington House that once belonged to George Washington and had been handed down to the Lees. (Wife Mary Lee was a relation.) “It’s in­cred­ibly rare to have photos of slaves that we can identify,” says a spokesperson for the National Park Service. “Since slaves were property, it’s really hard to identify the people in images like this. This is a priceless item to add to our collection.” The person who put the photo up for sale on the auction site lives in England and found it in a box of unwanted photographs at a yard sale. An inscription on the back reads, "Gen Lees Slaves Arlington Va." Gray was given her freedom in 1862, and she and her family bought land near Arlington. (Lee's namesake college recently decided to take down its Confederate flags.)