This photograph is from one panel of a stereo pair, published by Wilson and Havens. Notice how the veranda wraps around that huge tree — how ecological! I hope the tree never fell on that beautiful house. The title reads:
#165. Residence of Harriet Beecher Stowe, at Mandarin, on St. John’s River, Fla.
The photographer’s imprint shows:
Published by Wilson & Havens,
No. 143 Broughton St.,
Savannah, GA.
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 Jun 14-1896 July 1), famed abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), is said to have ‘fled’ to Florida after her brother Henry Ward Beecher, also a prominent abolitionist as well as social reformer and clergyman, was accused of adultery, sparking a national scandal.
Brady's Washington DC Studio in Early 1890s
This photo shows a portrait from one of Brady’s last studios. We can see from the shoulder style on the woman’s dress, combined with the facts that it is a black card (both sides) with finely notched gilt edges, that this image dates from very early in the 1890s. The front imprint shows: M B Brady, Wash. D.C. The back is more verbose: Brady’s National Portrait Gallery and Museum of Historic Photography. Penn. Avenue and 13th, Washington, D.C.
Since Brady died in January 1896 I thought this might come from his last studio, but no, he had another after this, not counting the studio in his nephew’s house that was really his last. This is probably not complete, but here is a quick list of Brady’s studios, and known years of operation. Sometimes he had more than one going at a time, so the dates overlap. I took these from various Internet sites, and have not researched their accuracy, so consider this a preliminary list, not an authoritative compilation. Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done yet, determining when studios closed, especially.
A lot of attention is paid to Brady’s Civil War photos. Less, but still significant attention goes to his daguerreotype and later albumen portraits of famous people from before the Civil War. But the bulk of Brady’s career were the 30 years after the war, though this period has received but scant attention by most photohistorians.
In the list below, > indicates he had the studio after the date shown for an unknown period.
- 1823 or 1824: Mathew Brady was born
- 1845-1847: Corner Fulton and Broadway (162 Fulton/207 Broadway), New York, NY
- 1848-1854: 205-207 Broadway, New York, NY
- 1848>: 4-1/2 to 6 West Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, D.C.
- 1853-1857: 359 Broadway, New York, NY
- 1858>: 350-352 Pennsylvania Ave
- 1858-1860>: 205 Broadway, New York, NY
- 1859>:643 Bleecker Street (near Broadway), New York, NY
- 1860-1866>: 785 Broadway, New York, NY
- 1868-1881: 625-627 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, D.C.
- 1882: 450 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, D.C.
- 1883>: 1113 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, D.C.
- 1889: 1833 Fourteenth Street, Washington, D.C.
- 1890>: Corner Thirteenth Street and Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, D.C.
- 1891 “Over the Pennsylvania Railroad ticket office, near the Treasury Department” [Was that 13 and Penn or F St or another studio?]
- 1893: Studio at 1107 F Street, Washington, D.C.
- 1894-1895: Studio at nephew Levin Handy’s house, 494 Maryland Ave, Washington, D.C.
- 1896 January: died in NYC where he had been living for several months.
Pueblo Indians of Taos
This photograph is one panel from a Keystone stereoview from ca 1900. Below is the printed description from the back of the card. Notice how the language, though ostensibly educational, is in fact patronizing, often derogatory and factually suspect.
211-(13720) Pueblo of Taos Indians – Lat. 30° N., Long. 106° W.
The Pueblo Indians of the Southwest were very different from those farther east and north. They were partly civilized and knew how to weave baskets and blankets and to make pottery.
They are rather shorter and darker in color than other Indians, but are very strong, with great endurance. they are able to walk or run long distances or climb difficult mountain trails with burdens that would tax the strongest white man. They are not warlike and often build their homes on high mesas or on cliffs for the sake of security. Their homes are of adobe or stone set in lcay mortar. The rooms are square with flat roofs. Sometimes as a precaution against attack their houses were made with no outside doors or windows. Then a trap door in the roof with a ladder gave access to the interior. Different families do not have separate houses, but all live in one great building to which rooms are added as needed. Sometimes a whole village will live in one compact building like this. An important feature of each pueblo is the underground chamber for the use of the various ceremonials. They are very fond of ceremonials and have one for each occasion. The snake-dance of the Hopi Indians is an example. Each man has but one wife and the woman is the head of the house.
The Pueblo Indians are skilled in making pottery and in weaving blankets and baskets, each Pueblo having its own patterns by which its baskets may be known. They cultivate the land, raising corn, beans, melons and various vegetables. Sometimes they construct irrigation systems to bring water to these fields. They grind the corn between two stones and bake it in cakes upon hot stones. Notice the ovens.
Today’s picture is of a little girl holding a doll, seated on a hammock. There is a rural background painting, turf in the foreground, and the foot of a posing stand visible beneath her. Her cheeks have been lightly rouged. I find it hard to date children’s fashions, but I am going to guess this image comes from right around 1890, based on the wide lace collar, the sleeves on the doll which appear puffed at the shoulder, and the use of the hammock, which I have not seen in earlier periods. Each of those points is arguable of course, and I may be off — tintypes do not offer as many dating clues as cardmounted photos. As with so many loose tintypes, there is no photographer or location identified.
Girl Seated on a Hammock Holding a Doll
The Castle at the Smithsonian Institution 1870s or 1880s
This is one panel from a stereoview, showing ‘The Castle’ from the 1870s or 1880s. Back then that one building constituted the entire Smithsonian Institution, whereas today it has 19 museums, a zoo, and nine research facilities. The stereoview was published by well-known and prolific Washington DC photographer John F Jarvis, and is marked ‘J F Jarvis, Publisher and Dealer, Stereoscopic Views’ on one side and ‘135 Penna Avenue, Washington DC’ on the other. Here is the description from the back of the card:
The Smithsonian Institution
Is a massive building erected in the south west quarter of the City of Washington, upon a Government reservation comprising about fifty-two acres. Its peculiar style of architecture is known as the Norman or Lombard. The corner-stone was laid May 1847 with Masonic ceremonies in the presence of James K. Polk and Cabinet. This building has been erected and perpetuated at an expense of about $450,000, all of which accumulated from the interest on the original bequest by James Smithson. The entire length of the building is 447 feet, and its greatest depth 160 feet. It has nine towers, the principal of which attains an altitude of about 150 feet. The scientific results of various exploring expeditions are stored here, constituting a Museum of Natural History containing curiosities, native and foreign. [See Wyeth's Federal City.]
