BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center (NPG) -- Exhibit: Lincoln's Contemporaries

DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center (NPG) -- Exhibit: Lincoln's Contemporaries:

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Description of Pictures: Lincoln's Contemporaries
May 13, 2016 – May 12, 2019
Who were Abraham Lincoln’s contemporaries? They included many fascinating people beyond the politicians and military leaders of the Civil War. This exhibition features Mathew Brady’s portraits of twenty celebrities -- from showman P.T. Barnum and inventor Samuel Morse to musician Teresa Carreño and clergyman Henry Ward Beecher -- who reflect the diversity of American intellectual and cultural life during Lincoln’s presidency.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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[1] SIPGCO_160512_001.JPG	[2] SIPGCO_160512_005.JPG	[3] SIPGCO_160512_008.JPG
[4] SIPGCO_160512_016.JPG	[5] SIPGCO_160512_024.JPG	[6] SIPGCO_160512_033.JPG
[7] SIPGCO_160512_041.JPG	[8] SIPGCO_160512_059.JPG	[9] SIPGCO_160512_070.JPG
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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SIPGCO_160512_001.JPG: Lincoln's Contemporaries In 1860 a new photographic format captured the imagination of the American public. Known as a carte de visite because of its similarity in size to a European calling card, the small, card-mounted photograph originated in France in the mid-1850s. First offered by American photographers in the late summer of 1859, card photographs soared to popularity during the presidential election of 1860 as candidates (and their supporters) circulated thousands of cartes de visite to promote their campaigns. In fact, Abraham Lincoln was said to have credited a flattering portrait by photographer Mathew Brady as a factor in his victory at the polls. The carte de visite was cheap to produce and inexpensive to collect. As such, it fueled the rapid growth of a mass market for affordable photographic portraits. Americans not only collected images of their friends and families, but filled parlor albums with portraits of men and women of note. When the vogue of collecting such likenesses took hold, Mathew Brady was perfectly positioned to respond: his existing collection of celebrity portraits was preeminent, and his reputation for excellence continued to attract luminaries to his New York and Washington galleries. To meet the extraordinary demand for carte-de-visite portraits throughout the war years, Brady's studios produced thousands of negatives from which countless prints were made and distributed to an eager public. The photographs exhibited here are modern prints made from original Brady carte-de-visite negatives in the National Portrait Gallery's Frederick Hill Meserve Collection. The subjects depicted -- all contemporaries of Abraham Lincoln -- reflect the richness and diversity of American intellectual and cultural life during the Civil War era.
2. SIPGCO_160512_008.JPG: Maggie Mitchell, 1837-1918 A winsome actress who counted Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow among her many admirers, Maggie Mitchell parlayed a single role into the mainstay of her career. After building a popular following during the 1850s with performances in regional theaters, she created a sensation in New Orleans in 1861 as the title character in Fanchon, the Cricket. A light, sentimental comedy adapted from a story by George Sand, the play showcased Mitchell, whose sprightly performance as an elf-like girl suspected of witchcraft captivated audiences and critics alike. When the production's southern tour was cut short by the outbreak of the Civil War, Mitchell returned to the North, where performances of Fanchon established her as a star. For the next twenty-five years, popular demand compelled her to return repeatedly to this signature role. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from c. 1862 wet collodion negative
3. SIPGCO_160512_016.JPG: Lester Wallack, 1820-1888 Considered by many to be the most handsome actor of his generation, Lester Wallack was the last member of an acting dynasty founded in the eighteenth century. A talented performer who played more than 300 different roles in the course of his career, Wallack received his training on the English stage before making his American debut in 1847. After several successful seasons in New York, he joined his father's acting company, where he played both comic and romantic leads in a series of popular productions. Wallack took charge of the acting troupe after his father's retirement in 1861 and remained its manager for more than a quarter of a century. Under the younger Wallack's inspired direction, the company, which included many of the nation's finest actors and actresses, became one of the nineteenth century's most successful and long-lived theatrical enterprises. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from c. 1861 wet collodion negative
4. SIPGCO_160512_024.JPG: Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804-1864 Descended from the early Puritan settlers, Nathaniel Hawthorne drew upon his knowledge of both family and local history to create the plots and settings for such highly regarded works as The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851). Hawthorne's evocation of old New England added an important dimension to his fiction, but it was his exploration of the psychological and moral aspects of the human condition that distinguished his work, giving it a universal quality that raised it far above the realm of regional literature. Despite the widespread popularity of his novels and short stories, Hawthorne suffered financially from the lack of international copyright protection when unauthorized editions of his books were published abroad. And he never earned more than $1,500 from his sales at home, largely because the market was flooded with cut-rate editions of works by celebrated British authors. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from 1862 wet collodion negative
5. SIPGCO_160512_033.JPG: Joseph Henry, 1797-1878 In December 1846, noted experimental physicist Joseph Henry left his post as professor of natural philosophy at Princeton to become the first Secretary and director of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. A bequest to the United States from Englishman James Smithson had provided monies to create "an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge," but it was not until 1846-seventeen years after Smithson's death-that Congress finally passed the act establishing the Smithsonian Institution. Henry guided the fledgling institution through its formative years and strove to make it "an active, living organization" that would "stimulate the talent of our country." During Henry's thirty-one-year tenure, the Smithsonian became the focal point of scientific inquiry in America, where it took the lead in supporting and publishing original research. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from c. 1860 wet collodion negative
6. SIPGCO_160512_041.JPG: Peter Cooper, 1791-1883 Inventor and millionaire industrialist Peter Cooper was one of the outstanding American businessmen of the nineteenth century. He was also a generous and innovative philanthropist who viewed wealth as a trust to be used "to do something in a public way for the education and uplifting of the common people." To this end, in 1857 Cooper founded the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art-a unique institution in New York City that offered free courses in applied art and science to adults with the desire but not the means to secure an education. The Cooper Union also maintained a free library and sponsored public lectures by speakers such as Abraham Lincoln, whose eloquent address there in February 1860 was credited by many with helping him to win both his party's nomination and the presidency. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from c. 1861 wet collodion negative
7. SIPGCO_160512_059.JPG: Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, 1841-1910 Queen Victoria's eighteen-year-old son and heir, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, became the first member of Britain's royal family to visit North America when he made a triumphant tour of Canada in 1860. At the invitation of President James Buchanan, the prince extended his sojourn by visiting several American cities, including Washington, D.C., and New York. There, his presence created a sensation with eager crowds straining for a glimpse of Britain's future King Edward VII. While in New York he was feted with parades and a lavish ball at the city's Academy of Music, where a portion of the dance floor collapsed under the excessive weight of the throng. The prince and his entourage also toured Barnum's American Museum and visited Mathew Brady's Broadway gallery, where they purchased photographs of American celebrities and posed for their own portraits. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from 1860 wet collodion negative
8. SIPGCO_160512_070.JPG: Isabella Hinckley, 1840-1862 Soprano Isabella Hinckley was one of the first Americans to win critical acclaim as an operatic performer. She began her singing career in her early teens and traveled to Italy in 1857 to complete her vocal training. After a successful debut in Europe in 1859, Hinckley returned to the United States, where she joined a New York City opera company in 1861. Appearing in a series of Italian operas, Hinckley was praised for her stirring renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Hail Columbia," both of which were patriotically added to the librettos. In Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, she often sang the part of Oscar, the page-a role that president-elect Abraham Lincoln saw her perform in February 1861 at New York's Academy of Music. Sadly, Hinckley's promising career was cut short by her untimely death at the age of twenty-one. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from 1861 wet collodion negative
9. SIPGCO_160512_079.JPG: Henry Ward Beecher, 1813-1887 One of the most effective voices raised in support of the abolitionist cause was that of Congregationalist minister Henry Ward Beecher. As pastor of Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York, from 1847 to 1887, Beecher preached on average to 2,500 worshippers each week and extended his influence through speaking tours and published addresses that reached national and international audiences. Although not regarded as a particularly original thinker, Beecher was able to synthesize the ideas of others and deliver the distilled message in an emotionally charged, highly personal style that captivated his listeners. An outspoken foe of the Compromise of 1850-which limited slavery's expansion while protecting it where it already existed -Beecher supported Abraham Lincoln's candidacy in 1860. He later criticized the president, however, for his delay in issuing an emancipation proclamation. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from c. 1863 wet collodion negative
10. SIPGCO_160512_097.JPG: John McCloskey, 1810-1885 The first American-born cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, John McCloskey played a primary role in the church's spiritual and material growth during the turbulent period that accompanied Catholicism's rapid rise in nineteenth-century America. From McCloskey's early days as a parish priest in New York City, through his elevation to bishop, archbishop, and cardinal, the patience, tact, and discretion that made him so effective in resolving discord within the church also helped him in his relations with the sometimes hostile Protestant community. When Pope Pius IX raised McCloskey to cardinal in 1875, American Catholics and Protestants alike greeted the news with favor. Four years later McCloskey presided at the dedication in New York of St. Patrick's Cathedral, whose completion was assured thanks to his tireless support of the project. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from 1864 wet collodion negative
11. SIPGCO_160512_105.JPG: Edwin Forrest, 1806-1872 The creator of a distinctly American school of acting, Edwin Forrest made his New York debut in Othello in 1826 at the age of twenty and for many years enjoyed an unrivaled popularity with the American public. A dynamic performer who imbued his characters with an elemental passion and energy that sprang from his own strong-willed and volatile nature, Forrest mesmerized audiences with his impassioned delivery and his commanding stage presence. Although Shakespeare's tragedies were staples of his repertoire, Forrest encouraged the efforts of American playwrights such as John Augustus Stone, whose melodrama Metamora provided the actor with one of his most memorable roles. Forrest's popularity, at its peak by the late 1840s, was subsequently damaged by a senseless feud with the English actor William Macready, as well as by the scandal surrounding Forrest's widely publicized, bitter divorce from his wife. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from c. 1861 wet collodion negative
12. SIPGCO_160512_115.JPG: Kate Bateman, 1842-1917 Just four years old when she made her acting debut, Kate Bateman enjoyed great success as a child prodigy until she outgrew such roles at the age of fourteen and briefly retired from the stage. She reemerged in 1860 in the title role of Evangeline, a dramatization of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's celebrated poem, and soon confirmed her status as a bona fide adult star with her portrayal of Julia in the 1862 production of The Hunchback. Her most famous role, however, was that of Leah in Leah, the Forsaken-a melodrama adapted specifically for her by playwright Augustin Daly. When Leah opened in New York in 1863, Bateman's stirring performance as the Jewish maiden abandoned by her Christian lover received a wildly enthusiastic reception from the public. Although Bateman would play many parts during her long career, Leah remained her greatest triumph. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from 1863 wet collodion negative
13. SIPGCO_160512_124.JPG: Samuel F. B. Morse, 1791-1872 When a scarcity of commissions led Samuel Morse to reconsider his career as an artist, he turned from painting to pursue his earlier interest in inventing. In 1832, he conceived a plan for an electromagnetic recording telegraph and dedicated his energies to developing a working model for his invention. When he applied for a patent in 1840, Morse had succeeded in devising a relay system for transmitting messages over long distances and had created the practical transmission code that bears his name. For a time, lack of capital imperiled the future of his telegraph, but in 1843 Congress funded the construction of an experimental line between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. One year later, Morse ushered in a new age in communications when he tapped out the first message, "What hath God wrought!" Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from 1862 wet collodion negative
14. SIPGCO_160512_132.JPG: Theresa Carreño, 1853-1917 Pianist Teresa Carreño was only eight years old and a recent émigré from Venezuela when she gave her first public recital in New York in 1862. This debut was a resounding success and attracted the notice of composer and piano virtuoso Louis Moreau Gottschalk, who quickly assumed the role of Carreño's teacher and mentor. Within a year, she was performing for President Lincoln at the White House, where her selections included a dazzling interpretation of the president's favorite, "Listen to the Mockingbird." Continuing her musical studies in Europe in 1866, Carreño went on to make the successful transition from child prodigy to adult performer whose virtuosity and power earned her the title "the Valkyrie of the piano." Recognized as one of the greatest pianists of her time, she continued to perform on the concert stage until just weeks before her death. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from c. 1862 wet collodion negative
15. SIPGCO_160512_148.JPG: Edwin Booth, 1833-1887 Edwina Booth, 1861-1938 One of the leading tragedians of the nineteenth-century American stage, Edwin Booth was born into a family of actors and first played minor parts in productions featuring his father, Junius Brutus Booth. After honing his craft in theatrical companies on the West Coast, Edwin Booth returned east in 1857 where a series of triumphant appearances secured his reputation and launched a long and respected career. Unfortunately, Booth's success in the theater was frequently punctuated by profound personal tragedy. In 1863, the sudden death of his beloved wife left him to care for their young daughter, Edwina, and two years later his brother's assassination of Abraham Lincoln drove Edwin into temporary retirement. His career revived successfully, however, when he returned to the stage in 1866, and shortly thereafter he opened his own handsomely appointed theater in New York. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from 1866 wet collodion negative
16. SIPGCO_160512_165.JPG: Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1809-1894 Throughout his lengthy career as a teacher and lecturer at Harvard, Oliver Wendell Holmes demonstrated an enlightened approach to medical science that placed him in the forefront of his profession. But if medicine was his vocation, literature was most certainly Holmes's avocation. In the eyes of his contemporaries, Holmes's achievements as a man of letters overshadowed his accomplishments as a man of science. With his radiant humor, pointed wit, and sparkling conversational skills, he dominated the intellectual life of Boston and Cambridge for nearly a quarter of a century, and reached a wider audience through his poetry, essays, and lectures. Holmes also maintained a lively interest in photography, publishing a series of articles on the subject and inventing the handheld version of the stereoscope-the device used to view the popular dual-image stereographs. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from c. 1862 wet collodion negative
17. SIPGCO_160512_172.JPG: Daniel Huntington, 1816-1906 A prolific and well-regarded artist in his day, Daniel Huntington built his career painting portraits as well as works exploring literary, religious, or historic themes. Huntington scored an early triumph with Mercy's Dream (1841), a pious and sentimental work inspired by an episode from John Bunyan's much-admired Christian allegory, Pilgrim's Progress. The painting proved extraordinarily popular with the American public and was reproduced via engravings that enjoyed wide circulation for several decades. Huntington also played an active role in a number of arts institutions and helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A longtime member of the National Academy of Design, Huntington served as its president from 1862 to 1870 and from 1877 to 1890, during which time he dedicated himself to the promotion and study of art in America. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from c. 1862 wet collodion negative
18. SIPGCO_160512_184.JPG: George Washington Morrison ("Commodore") Nutt, 1844-1881 Charles Sherwood Stratton ("Tom Thumb"), 1838-1883 Lavinia Warren, 1841-1919 Minnie Warren, 1842-1878 One of the most curious aspects of American cultural life during the Civil War era was the phenomenal popularity of a quartet of diminutive performers-"General Tom Thumb," "Commodore" Nutt, Lavinia Warren, and Minnie Warren-all in the employ of the "Prince of Humbug," P. T. Barnum. When Tom Thumb and Lavinia announced their plans to wed, Barnum capitalized on the engagement, reaping as much as $3,000 per day in admission fees from those who mobbed his American Museum to see the famous pair. On February 10, 1863, the couple was married in New York City's Grace Church, with Nutt and Minnie Warren completing the wedding party. Hailed as "The Fairy Wedding," the lavish affair captured the public's imagination and provided a much-needed diversion for a war-weary nation. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from 1863 wet collodion negative
19. SIPGCO_160512_213.JPG: Ole Bornemann Bull, 1810-1880 Violin virtuoso Ole Bull was already an established concert star in Europe when he arrived in Boston to begin his first American tour in November 1843. An unabashed showman, Bull enthralled audiences around the country with his dazzling technique and appealing musical selections that included his own compositions as well as arrangements of Norwegian folk melodies. Bull returned to Norway at the end of his highly profitable tour, but came back to the United States in 1852 when his determination to help his impoverished countrymen inspired him to establish a utopian community in Pennsylvania for Norwegian immigrants. Known as Oleana, the settlement proved unsustainable and quickly collapsed, at considerable expense to its founder. Bull soon recovered from this debacle, however, and his enormous popularity as a performer both in America and in Europe never wavered. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from c. 1867 wet collodion negative
20. SIPGCO_160512_220.JPG: Jessie Benton Frémont, 1824-1902 Jessie Benton Frémont spent her life in the public eye-as the daughter of powerful Missouri senator Thomas Hart Benton, as the wife of noted explorer John C. Frémont, and as a popular author in her own right. Married to Frémont at the age of seventeen, Jessie secured for him her father's backing for a series of government-sponsored expeditions to open up the far western regions of the country to migration and settlement. When Frémont returned from the first of these expeditions in 1842, Jessie collaborated with him in writing the vivid report of his findings that first brought him national recognition. Many years later, when financial difficulties brought the couple close to bankruptcy, Jessie employed her literary skills to support her husband and family by writing lively reminiscences, stories, and travel sketches for a number of popular periodicals. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from c. 1863 wet collodion negative
21. SIPGCO_160512_237.JPG: Phineas T. Barnum, 1810-1891 The greatest impresario of the nineteenth century, P. T. Barnum was a shrewd judge of popular taste and an intuitive master of the art of publicity who tickled the public's imagination and gleefully exploited its credulity for more than fifty years. Barnum first gained national attention in 1842 with the opening of his American Museum on Broadway in New York City. Offering a veritable smorgasbord of entertainments for a single low admission fee, Barnum's museum rapidly became one of New York's most celebrated showplaces. By the time he created "the greatest show on earth" in 1872, he enjoyed an international reputation as a showman who could be counted on to amaze and delight audiences with performers and attractions of every description-all served up with a generous dose of the "humbug" that was Barnum's specialty. Mathew Brady Studio, modern albumen silver print from c. 1862 wet collodion negative
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