This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Who Made the First Camera in America and Portrait
An Associated Press dispatch from Hampden Sydney Va discusses claims to the first American camera and the first modern portrait. It details Dr John William Draper’s early experiments, rival claims by Seager Wolcott and Daguerreographers, and Tafts scholarly conclusions on Draper’s contributions to early photography.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Elmo Scott Watson
Western
Union
America
Associated Press
Hampden Sydney
John William Draper
University of Pennsylvania
Hampden Sydney College
John William
Howard C. Cobbs
Charleston
W. Vai
Cobbs
George W. Eastman
Eastman Kodak Company
J. J. . Bagby
Smithsonian
Dr. Draper
Photographic and Fine Art Journal
Draper
Europe
Daguerre
Talbot
Ng Hact
Portralis
New York University
Virginia
Weere
Lewis Jacques Mande Dagouerre
MacMillan Company of New York
Robert Tats
University of Kansas
Yatt
D. W. Seager
New York
Taft
Seager
United States
Draper Mare
Alexander 5. Wolcott
Wolcott
John Johnson
Morse
Dorothy Catherine Draper
John W. Herscel
England
John W. W. Herschel
Selentiat
Dr. Taft
Jong
Yio
Sands of
Magazincy
Winv