Daguerreotypes by Augustus Washington, A Durable Memento
Augustus Washington, son of a former slave, learned to make daguerreotypes in 1843 during his freshman year at Dartmouth College to offset his college expenses. Biographical notes and details about his work are provided in an annotated slideshow, which includes portraits he made in his first studio at Hartford, Connecticut, and those he made later after he had migrated to Liberia. This is a fascinating history of the life of an African American living free in a slave society. The site, the online version of an exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, offers a Teachers Guide in PDF format.
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
• Pictures and/or Illustrations • Biographical Information
• High School Middle School
Stephen Carter
