Visual Materials

Portraits of Confederacy Officers

Description: Cyanotype copies of eighteen portraits in the War Department Collections. Six small head-and-shoulder views are included on each 8x10 inch negative (three in all). All the men are identified.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1889-1908.
Call number: photCL 352 (1007-1009)
Creator: Johnston, Frances Benjamin (1864-1952)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Purchased by Henry Huntington from Frances Johnston, 1924.
Dimensions: 41 x 51 cm or smaller (16 x 20 in. or smaller)

Matthew B. Brady Daguerreotypes from the War Department Collections

Visual Materials

Cyanotype copies of Brady daguerreotypes of male sitters, many unidentified, which Johnston made from the originals in the War Department collections. There are identified portraits of Henry Clay, George Custis, John M. Clayton, William L. Dayton, and Winfield Scott.

photCL 352 (999-1006)

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Group Portraits and Government Events - Large Format

Visual Materials

These views are printed from Johnston's 11x14 in. and larger glass plate negatives. This notable grouping included a mounted, platinum print of the Officers of the First National Congress of Mothers, February 1897. This organization was the forerunner of the Parent-Teacher Association, and the portrait is autographed by all the sitters. There is an interesting series of cyanotype proofs and platinum prints of Mrs. Cleveland and the Ladies of the Cabinet (#1250-1257). Both sittings (January, February 1897) are included and two of the mounted prints are signed by some of the women in attendance. Other items are group views of the first and second McKinley Cabinets; Signing of the Ratification of the Treaty with Spain (1898,1899); Opening Ceremonies of the 59th U.S. Congress (1905).

photCL 352 (1249-1276)

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Original Negative Boxes

Visual Materials

Two original 11x14 in. glass plate negative boxes owned by Johnston with her handwriting on the boxes.

photCL 352

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Portraiture - Large Format

Visual Materials

Most of these portraits are printed from glass plate negatives which are 11x14 in. and larger. Included are views of Theodore Roosevelt (1902), a signed and mounted platinum print of Frances Folsom Cleveland, and impressive studio portraits of Julian Pauncefote, Wu T'ing Fang and his wife, Madame Wu. There is also a series of salt prints of illustrious men, many of the prints autographed by the sitters. The images are duplicates of the 8x10 in. portraits listed in the earlier boxes and appear to be a series that Johnston was preparing as a limited edition for sale.

photCL 352 (1215-1248)

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Group Commissions, Events, and Group Portraits

Visual Materials

Portraits of government groups such as the U.S. Mint employees (1889), Senate Military Affairs Committee (1891), Assistant Secretaries of the Treasury (1901), and the U.S. Delegates to the Pan-American Congress (1906); Views of government commissions including the Venezuelan Commission (1896), Samoan Commission (1899), First and Second Philippine Commissions (1899, 1900), Chinese High Commission, Presidential Commission to receive Prince Henry; Views related to the Presidential administration of William McKinley such as his Cabinet (1901), the second inauguration (1901), the Pan-American Exposition (including the last photograph of McKinley before he was assassinated at this even in 1901), and, later, a series of the unveiling ceremonies at the McKinley Memorial in Canton, Ohio (1907); Other ceremonial events include the unveiling of the Rochambeau Statue by President Theodore Roosevelt in Lafayette Square (1902), and laying the cornerstone for the Pan American Union Building (1908), also by President Roosevelt. Additional events include the Exchange of Warrents for the Philippines (1899), and the Opening of the 60th U.S. Congress (1907). For large format group portraits and government events refer to Box 13.

photCL 352 (932-950)

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Portraits, C by sitter

Visual Materials

The Huntington's collection of Johnston photographs covers her D.C. career, mainly in the 1890s. Johnston herself described the collection as "portraits of famous men and women and historic events ... through the administrations of Benj. Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft." The focus is largely on D.C. socialites, diplomats, Presidents, senators, reformers, Supreme Court justices, artists, authors, Confederacy officers, etc. Also included are series of views of Washington's embassies (largely interior shots), legations, and famous residences Johnston photographed for Demorest's family magazine. The remainder of the collection includes, among other items, copies of Mathew Brady's daguerreotypes that belonged to the War Dept., treaties and other official documents from the State Dept. Archives, Lincoln ephemera intended to illustrate Ida Tarbell's Life of Lincoln, and views of the Bell telephone

photCL 352 (146-240)

Portraits of Confederacy Officers

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