David Octavius Hill - [David Roberts, R.A., full-length portrait, standing, facing left]

Mathew Brady (1823-1896) was one of the most prolific photographers of the nineteenth century, creating a visual documentation of the Civil War period (1860-1865). During the Civil War, Brady and his associates traveled throughout the eastern part of the country, capturing the effects of the War through photographs of people, towns, and battlefields. Additionally, Brady kept studios in Washington, DC and New York City, where many influential politicians and war heroes sat for portraits. The U.S. National Archives has digitized over 6,000 images from the series Mathew Brady Photographs of Civil War-Era Personalities and Scenes (National Archives's Local Identifier 111-B) and included them in our online catalog. The U.S. National Archives was established in 1934 by President Franklin Roosevelt, but its major holdings date back to 1775. The National Archives keeps only those Federal records that are judged to have continuing value -- about 2 to 5 percent of those generated in any given year. By now, they add up to a formidable number, diverse in form as well as in content. In addition to the photographs and graphic images described above, there are approximately 9 billion pages of textual records; 7.2 million maps, charts, and architectural drawings; billions of machine-readable data sets; and more than 365,000 reels of film and 110,000 videotapes. All of these materials are preserved because they are important to the workings of Government, have long-term research worth, or provide information of value to citizens.

1844 eröffnete Mathew Brady ein Fotostudio an der Ecke Broadway / Fulton Street in New York. Im Jahr 1845 begann er, seine Porträts berühmter Amerikaner auszustellen, darunter Senator Daniel Webster und Dichter Edgar Allan Poe. 1849 eröffnete er ein Atelier in der 625 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. Bradys frühe Bilder waren Daguerreotypien und er gewann viele Preise für seine Arbeit. Brady produzierte 1850 The Gallery of Illustrious Americans, eine Porträtsammlung prominenter zeitgenössischer Persönlichkeiten. Das Album, auf dem bemerkenswerte Bilder zu sehen waren, darunter der betagte Andrew Jackson in der Eremitage, war finanziell nicht lohnend, forderte aber erhöhte Aufmerksamkeit für Bradys Arbeit. Als der Bürgerkrieg begann, benutzte er ein mobiles Atelier und eine Dunkelkammer ermöglichten lebendige Schlachtfeldfotos. Tausende von Kriegsszenen wurden aufgenommen, sowie Porträts von Generälen und Politikern auf beiden Seiten des Konflikts, obwohl die meisten von seinen Assistenten aufgenommen wurden und nicht von Brady selbst. Nach dem Krieg kamen diese Bilder aus der Mode, und die Regierung kaufte die Meisterkopien nicht, wie er es erwartet hatte. Bradys Vermögen ging steil zurück, und er starb in Schulden.

Robert Adamson (1821-1848) was a Scottish chemist and pioneering photographer, best known for his collaboration with the artist David Octavius Hill in the early days of photography. Born on 26 April 1821 in St Andrews, Scotland, Adamson grew up in a family of shipowners. In 1843, Adamson met David Octavius Hill, a painter, and the two formed a partnership that would contribute significantly to the development of photography as an art form. Their collaboration began at a time when the calotype process, an early photographic technique, had just been introduced by William Henry Fox Talbot. The calotype process produced an image on paper coated with silver iodide, allowing multiple positive prints to be made from a single negative. Adamson and Hill set out to document various aspects of Scottish life and culture, including landscape, architecture and portraiture. They are particularly famous for their depictions of the people of Newhaven, a fishing village near Edinburgh. This work culminated in the production of a collection known as the 'Disruption of 1843', which captured scenes from the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Tragically, Robert Adamson's career was cut short by his untimely death at the age of 26 in 1848. The exact cause of his death remains uncertain, but it is widely believed to have been related to the chemicals used in the photographic process, which were often toxic. Despite his short career, Adamson's contributions to the early development of photography, particularly through his collaboration with David Octavius Hill, have had a lasting impact on the history of the medium.