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Show Ey ELMO SCOTT WATSON '"' T WAS the spring of 1SG1. TT Hordes of olliee-seekers, politicians, government officials and various others 11 were trooping to the White House in Washington to seek an interview with the new President and gain some special favor from him. Among them was a young Irishman with a most unusual request. lie knew, as every one else did, that war between the North and the South Jr fc was a certainty. He belonged to that new profession of picture-makers who used a contraption called a camera and he proposed to make a photographic J2JL record of the war. In fact, he had already invested heavily in cameras made especially for the hard use he would give them. Now he wanted permission riii' to accompany the Union armies and make pictures in camp, on the battlefield, battle-field, anywhere and everywhere. Would the President grant him that privilege? Fortunately for posterity, Abraham Lincoln was quick to see the historical value of such a record and he granted the photographer s request. The names of most of the men who thronged the office of the harassed Chief Executive during that fateful spring 75 years ago have long since been forgotten, as have the missions which took them there. But the name of that photographer is imperishably preserved In a unique memorial. For he was Mathew Ii. Brady, the first camera man in history to "cover" a war. When he died he left behind him several thousand pictures which from the Battle of Bull Run in 1SGI to the hanging of the conspirators in the assassination of President Lincoln in lSGj, tell the story of the greatest civil war In history not through the faltering tongue of man but through the infallible eye of the camera. Brady was not exactly an unknown when he appeared at the White Ilouse. Tie already al-ready had made a name for himself in the new profession of photography and his decision deci-sion to make a pictorial record of the War Between the States was a logical step in hid fnrpor The son of Irish immigrants, Brady was born In Warren county. New York, near Lake George, in 1S22. In his youth he moved to Saratoga Springs and there learned the trade of making Jewel and instrument cases. There he also became acquainted with William Page, an artist, who had been a pupil of a portrait painter and teacher named Samuel Flnley Breese Morse. During the winter and spring of 1SIJS-39 Morse had been abroad and had met Etienne Daguerre, inventor of the daguerreotype. Upon his return to America Amer-ica he began experimenting with the process and soon became proficient in the new art. In IS 10 Page and Brady moved to New York city and through Page, Brady became acquainted acquaint-ed with Morse. While continuing his trade of making jewel cases the young Irishman took lessons les-sons in daguerreotypy from Morse and in 1S44 he decided to launch into the business himself. Young Brady was ambitious, Ingenious and a hard worker. As a result, when the American Institute of New York In 1S44 held an exhibition of daguerreotypes, the first competitive photographic photo-graphic exhibit In the United States, his work was judged the best on display and he was awarded a silver medal for it. For the next six ATSON jr - overnment officials and various others ;!:,. .v :.? - r- vashington to seek an interview with . J ( il favor from him Among them was ' " i request , i"" war between the North and the South j. " lew profession of picture makers ulio I f s 1 ' ' he proposed to make a photographic I , ? uly invested heavily in cameras made ,y " " 1 ve them. Now he wanted peimission f ib- - - , ike pictures in camp, on the battle- ,, J ident grant him that prmlege? . ' " is quick to see the historical value of " ""' J" request The names of most of the j " x ' f Executive dunng that fateful spung f " . - e the missions which took them there ' . JM ' ibly preserved In a unique memorial t r x Xs in in histoiy to "cover" a war. When s , es which fiom the Battle of Bull Run ' " assassination of Piesidont Lincoln in f tory not tlnough the faltering tongue , - f 3 ra. I , "V 1 appeared at the White Ilouse Tie al- v' v v J lofession of photogiaphy and his deci- 1 ecn the States was a logical step Id I t j t N s i ( . Hf r - ' - 1 f X if - ' " " iT ' iSCl s V Mathew bTbrady Castle ThunderHprison , Richmond, va. freed men on canal Bank at Richmond, VA, v Bombproof quarters in Frontof Petersburg years he received similar awards from the instl- S"-f- A P.ct"" from bZ Mh tute and In 1S51 he was given one of three medals f J t ",.W ""n y , , , , I-,-,.' i t i " Studios. Washington. D. C. Awarded in a great exhibition in London. 4 sssse - In the meantime his business had been grow- i" pfi Ing rapidly. People who could not afford to have -' T Brady's work and some sense of shame over the tiieir portraits painted by an artist could afford . . 3 - way in which the government had come into pos-to pos-to have their likenesses preserved in , a daguerreo- 0 session oE tIle coection. He made frequent de-type de-type and Brady s winning the institute medals - Y , mania tnat something be done about It. Gen. had given him special distinction. Moreover, his ,W. s J Benjamin Butler, also a congressman, joined in liractico of photographing every ce ebnty who s j ? . . , . ., , , . ' . , . - 7 .i. i i . i s - , S the demand and finally succeeded In having a came to New York City and hanging their pic- 1 ; . i s i , . t , , , ... , .. . x- , .7 ,, u- I ' iCn l--i. 1 paragraph inserted in a sundry appropriations turos n "A Nat onal Gallery' on the walls of his I 2 f .,;. ,, u . . ; . : , , ,. .i . u i t - )Fst - bill to enable the secretary of war to acquire a "salon made it one of the city's show-places. . x . r,. j tulI and perfect title to the Brady collection of A list of those vyho sat for Brady daguerreo- ,W photographs of the war." types Is a roll call of all the notables of the r-- period-Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, Dolly MadI- V - .'L Although both Garfield and Butlor declared son. Edgar Allen Poe, Daniel Webster, Henry " U" V xvN ' I that the collection had a commercial value of noi Clay, John C. Calhoun, J. Fenlmore Cooper, V iO V less than 5lr0'000' a" that Erady received for Washington Irving, Jenny Unci, Philip Barton N , x ' " was $25'000 and that on,y after Ions de,ay Key, Fanny Ellsler, Pauline Cushman, Gen. Lewis V ' , Jz- v During this time some of the negatives were losi Cass, Gen. John C. Fremont, James J. Audubon, X I , or broken but eventually they were deposited Prescott, the historian; William Cullen Bryant. "'"i'W- with the War department where today they are James Gordon Bennett, Horace Greeley, Samuel GEN. GeORGE RCKETT, C.S.A locked ln fireProo vauIts and handled with the years he received similar awards from the Institute Insti-tute and In lSol he was given one of three medals Awarded in a great exhibition in London. In the meantime his business had been growing grow-ing rapidly. People who could not afford to have their portraits painted by an artist could afTord to have their likenesses preserved In a daguerreotype daguerreo-type and Brady's winning the Institute medals had given him special distinction. Moreover, his liractico of photographing every celebrity who came to New York City and hanging their pictures pic-tures in "A National Gallery" on the walls of his "salon" made it one of the city's show-places. A list of those who sat for Brady daguerreotypes daguerreo-types Is a roll call of all the notables of the period Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, Dolly Madison, Madi-son, Edgar Allen Poe, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, J. Fenlmore Cooper, Washington Irving, Jenny Unci, Philip Barton Key, Fanny Ellsler, Pauline Cushman, Gen. Lewis Cass, Gen. John C. Fremont, James J. Audubon, Prescott, the historian; William Cullen Bryant. James Gordon Bennett, Horace Greeley, Samuel Colt, Gen. Winlield Scott, Dora Pedro, emperor of Brazil, and many others, both American and foreign. In fact, Brady daguerreotyped or photographed every President of the United States from John Julncy Adams, the sixth chief executive, down to William McKinley with the exception of one William Henry Harrison, who died in 1S41. three yours before Brady began his career. Not nil of these Presidents were pictured while ln ollice. Brady secured his studies of Adams. Jackson and Van Buren after they had retired from the White Ilouse, but, beginning with Tyler mid Polk, his Presidential picture-taking record was unbroken for HO years. By lSoo, when the demand for daguerreotypes reached Us peak, Brady was the outstanding Iihologrnpher of Ills day. By that time more than two million of the little metallic portraits were being made annually. ln response to tills demand Brady opened a huge establishment at ."fill Broadway which he called n "temple of art" and which. In Its rococco magnificence, would put some modern movie palaces pal-aces to shame. By the time the Civil war opened he could have lived a life of ease on his income from this establishment. Instead, tills "instinctive "instinc-tive historian, a Bancroft of the camera," chc se a career of privation and danger on the battlefields battle-fields of the Civil war to record for posterity that great conflict. He lilted up a canvas-covered wagon to carry his equipment and to serve as his dark room in the Held. In it he had to make his own emulsion with which to coat the large glass plates which were his negatives. In this wagon he traveled everywhere with Farragut on the Mississippi, with Sherman Into Georgia and with a score of other Union generals. His vagon was a familiar Eight everywhere in the theater of war. It plowed through muddy roads. It was ferried over rivers In constant danger of being dumped overboard and all the precious equipment lost. Mthough Brady's status of uon-eouibatnut gavel him the right to immunity from danger, bursting shells were no respecters of persons and one of them might easily scatter the canvas wagon's contents including the photographer himself all over the landscape. But none ever did for which we may be thankful. Considering the handicaps under which he worked the bulky equipment necessary neces-sary for taking the pictures, the tedious process of developing the easily-broken glass negatives and all the rest his achievement Is all the more remarkable. There is a certain "stiffness" about some of his pictures because his subjects had to hold their pose for several seconds, otherwise countenances would have been so blurred as to be Indistinguishable. Lack of high-speed lenses also made "action pictures," such as we have .oday, out of the question. But for all that. Brady's pictures are singularly filled with "life" and they make the past vivid to our eyes as no drawing or painting could do. He was at Gettysburg immediately after the battle and his pictures of the fields outside that little Pennsylvania town strewn with the dead of both sides tell a graphic story of the horror of war. The same Is true of his picture taken after the battle of Antietam and half a dozen other sanguinary encounters. By the time the war was over Brady found himself In financial dilliculty. His desire to make a pictorial record of the war had cost him dearly and, as Is so characteristic of governments, our government did nothing to show Its appreciation apprecia-tion of the value of his work. Finally his collection col-lection of negatives of war pictures was sold to pay a storage bill. In 1S74 William W. Belknap, secretary of war, paid the charges amounting to $'J,S-10 and for that sura the government acquired the priceless collection, although Brady-did Brady-did not benelit by the deal. Fortunately for him, however, Gen. James A. Garfield, then a member of congress and later President, had some appreciation of the value of Brady's work and some sense of shame over the way in which the government had come into possession pos-session of the collection. He niade frequent demands de-mands that something be done about it. Gen. Benjamin Butler, also a congressman, joined in the demand and finally succeeded ln having a paragraph inserted in a sundry appropriations bill "to enable the secretary of war to acquire a full and perfect title to the Brady collection of photographs of the war.'' Although both Garfield and Butlor declared that the collection had a commercial value of not less than 5150,000, all that Brady received for it was $25,000 and that only after long delay. During this time some of the negatives were losi or broken but eventually they were deposited with the War department where today they are locked in fireproof vaults and handled with the greatest care. Meanwhile Brady had continued his photographic photo-graphic studio business in Washington and the value of his post-war work Is nearly as great as that of his service on the battlefields. He continued to make pictures of celebrities who visited the capital, among them delegations ot Indians who came to Washington to call on "the Great White Father." But important as was his work In his later years, Brady had lost his pre-eminence as a photographer. Competitors were numerous anil younger men with newer methods were crowding the field. So the career of this pioneer wai camera man ended on a somewhat tragic note his death in comparative poverty end obscurity in New York City on January 16, 1S'.)G. His collection col-lection of war pictures In the War department is not his only memorial, however, for his work Is still carried on by members of his family. During Brady's later years L. C. Handy, a neph ew, became associated with him and after Brady's death Handy maintained his studio. Today on Maryland avenue somewhnt off the beaten track of busy, bustling "New Deal" Washington, Wash-ington, an old-fashioned house bears a simple bronze plate which tells the passer-by that this is the "L. C. Handy Studios." It gives c-s hint of any connection with history-making events. But enter the studio and one of Ilandy's two daughters, or bis son, will take from the cases which line the walls one of a great number of glass negatives. Hold one up to the light and you will find yourself looking Into the face of Fltz-Grcene Halleck; the poet, or the prince of Waic3 (he who later became King Edward VII and there Is a striking resemblance to tuo prince of Wales who only recently became Edward Ed-ward VIII of England!) or Chief Ouray of the Utes and his wife, Cliipeta, or some ottier notable of those far-off days when Mathew B. Brady's "National Gallery" or his "temple of art" was one of tbe sliowplaccs of New York City, Western Newspaper Union. |
