| # |
Digital Image |
Description |
Notes |
| 1 |
 |
Venus and Jeremiah Tilghman, Harford County,
c 1845
Photographer unknown
MHS Library, Special Collections Department, Cased Photo #156 |
A typical early studio Daguerreotype shows sitters uncomfortably braced
to withstand the long exposure time required to capture the image.
The sitters, themselves, though are far from typical-- Venus and Jeremiah
Tilghman were slaves. |
| 2 |
 |
Baltimore Harbor, 1849
Photographed by Henry H. Clarke
MHS Library, Special Collections Department |
Henry Clarke took his cumbersome daguerreotype equipment outdoors to
record a series of panoramic views of Baltimore, probably in October of
1849. Around the same time, a traveler named Edgar Allan Poe disembarked
in the harbor pictured, and met his death in Baltimore. |
| 3 |
 |
Blacksmith shop, Catonsville 1857
Photographed by George Coale
MHS Library, Special Collections Department PP176.33 |
George Coale, a Baltimore insurance executive, was one of the state’s
earliest and most enthusiastic amateur photographers. “I can let
my negatives print themselves in my office window while I am attending
to my business,” he stated. In 1858, he published the first American
manual for amateur photographers. |
| 4 |
 |
College friends,
c 1860
Photographer unknown
MHS Library, Special Collections Department |
These young Harford County men at an undentified college posed outdoors
so the photgrapher could take advantage of the light. Capturing their informal
dress and expressions, the camera revealed that yesterday's college students
do not differ much from today's. Whatever the era, college boys are given
to alcohol, tobacco, and loud trousers. |
| 5 |
 |
Artists’ Excursion on the B&O Railroad, 1858
Photographer unknown
MHS Library, Special Collections Department |
In June of 1858, Harper’s magazine sponsored a trip for a group of
artists on the entire existing B&O Railroad - from Baltimore to Wheeling,
West Virginia. When the train reached the Allegheny Mountains, the
company mounted the cowcatcher for a better view of the passing scenery.
Although photographers in the group recorded the trip, technology of the
day did not allow for photographs to be printed in publications. David
Hunter Strother, the bearded writer/illustrator in the engine door, used
some of the photos for reference when he illustrated the published article. |
| 6 |
 |
On the Old Franklin Rd., 1900
Photographer unknown
MHS Library, Special Collections Department, Clara Lips Collection
PP149 Z24.1581 |
Clara Lips’ photo album reflects her love of exploring the country
roads near her West Arlington home. On one of her rambles, she encountered
this group of children. Are they a Sunday School class or the students
of a one-room schoolhouse on an outing with their teacher? |
| 7 |
 |
Children with Dolls, c 1890
Photographer unknown
MHS Library, Special Collections Department, Hopkins Album Z24.1766 |
The children may not be as unhappy as they look, only holding very
still for the camera’s long exposure time, waiting for the click of the
shutter. They can go back to playing with their dolls after the photographer
is done. |
| 8 |
 |
Going to School, Westminster, c 1900
Photographer unknown
MHS Library, Special Collections Department, BCLM
uncataloged |
These apprehensive children on the first day of school are carrying
their lunches, good shoes, a comforting doll, and the traditional apple
for their teacher. |
| 9 |
 |
A Caravan Camp and Dancing Bears, New Market, c 1890
Photographer unknown
MHS Library, Special Collections Department,
Hopkins Album |
These two photos (9 and 9a) are from adjacent pages of an album kept
by a member of the Hopkins family.
Are the men with the dancing bears on the main street of New Market
part of their company? |
| 9a |
 |
Gypsy Encampment, c 1890
Photgrapher unknown
MHS Library, Special Collections Department,
Hopkins Album |
Are the campers with their caravan wagon gypsies? |
| 10 |
 |
Couple on Beach, Ocean City,
c 1900
Photographer unknown
MHS Library, Special Collections Department, Harwood Album |
Clowning for the camera, this young couple poses as a shy maiden and
her ardent suitor. The woman is wearing a light cotton jacket called a
“combing coat” to protect her dress as her hair dries after swimming. Ordinarily
a grown woman would not wear her hair down in public. |
