Historians and genealogists seem to love those superlatives...first, oldest, best, highest, most expensive. Can you guess which U.S. president's photo is the oldest surviving photo of a "sitting" president? We're not talking painted portraits...photographs. My guess would have been Lincoln, due to the abundance of U.S. Civil War photographs and carte-de-visite* (a pre Linked-In visting card) that gained popularity that era. This daguerreotype of 11th U.S. president James K. Polk, dated February 14, 1849 is the oldest surviving. http://i1.wp.com/www.historybyzim.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Polk-e1363191811654.jpg However, William Henry Harrison #9 was the first photographed U.S. president, while in office. Yet, a photo of John Quincy Adams, U.S. #6 exists from 1843.>>> http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/02/the-oldest-known-photographs-of-a-us-president/272872/ The photographer? None other than Matthew Brady, who opened his first studio in NYC in 1844. His second studio was walking distance from today's NYC Municipal Archives. Brady died in NYC in 1896, in debt. He thought the government would purchase the thousands of plates to his photographs, but that never happened. *MORE: Carte-de-viste images>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carte_de_visite Barb MizScarlettNY@aol.com .
Wow--very interesting. John Quincy Adams was a great man--gutsy and honest. Glad there is a photo. And interesting info re Matthew Brady--what contributions to our history. thanks for this, Virginia From: "mizscarlettny@aol.com" <mizscarlettny@aol.com> To: NYNEWYOR@rootsweb.com; nywestch@rootsweb.com; nybrooklyn@rootsweb.com; NY-IRISH@rootsweb.com Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2016 8:12 PM Subject: OLDEST (Surviving) US PRESIDENT'S PHOTO Historians and genealogists seem to love those superlatives...first, oldest, best, highest, most expensive. Can you guess which U.S. president's photo is the oldest surviving photo of a "sitting" president? We're not talking painted portraits...photographs. My guess would have been Lincoln, due to the abundance of U.S. Civil War photographs and carte-de-visite* (a pre Linked-In visting card) that gained popularity that era. This daguerreotype of 11th U.S. president James K. Polk, dated February 14, 1849 is the oldest surviving. http://i1.wp.com/www.historybyzim.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Polk-e1363191811654.jpg However, William Henry Harrison #9 was the first photographed U.S. president, while in office. Yet, a photo of John Quincy Adams, U.S. #6 exists from 1843.>>> http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/02/the-oldest-known-photographs-of-a-us-president/272872/ The photographer? None other than Matthew Brady, who opened his first studio in NYC in 1844. His second studio was walking distance from today's NYC Municipal Archives. Brady died in NYC in 1896, in debt. He thought the government would purchase the thousands of plates to his photographs, but that never happened. *MORE: Carte-de-viste images>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carte_de_visite Barb MizScarlettNY@aol.com .