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Photo, Print, Drawing Secretary of War Simon Cameron.

About this Item

Title

  • Secretary of War Simon Cameron.

Summary

  • Simon Cameron (1799-1889) was a Pennsylvania newspaper editor and politician who served as the first secretary of war in the cabinet of President Abraham Lincoln. He was born in Maytown, Pennsylvania and orphaned at age nine. Despite limited education, he gained a position as an apprentice printer and gradually rose to become editor of the Bucks County Messenger. Using his position in the press as a springboard, he became active in Pennsylvania state politics and served in the United States Senate from 1845 to 1849. Originally a Democrat, he switched parties and was elected to the Senate as a Republican in 1856. Lincoln appointed Cameron to his cabinet in 1861, partly in recognition of his great role in delivering Pennsylvania for the Republicans in the election of 1860. He proved an ineffective secretary of war who had policy differences with Lincoln and was regarded by many as corrupt, and he resigned his position on January 14, 1862. He and Lincoln remained on friendly terms, however, and the president appointed him minister to Russia. Cameron remained in Saint Petersburg for less than a year before returning to Pennsylvania to resume his political and business activities. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1867 to 1877. Cameron is remembered for his definition of "an honest politician" as "one who, when he is bought, will stay bought." The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823-96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825-91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818-88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Names

  • Anthony, Edward, 1818-1888 Contributor.
  • Brady, Mathew B., 1823?-1896 Photographer.

Created / Published

  • New York : Edward Anthony, [1861 to 1876]

Headings

  • -  United States of America--Pennsylvania
  • -  1861 to 1865
  • -  Ambassadors
  • -  Cameron, Simon, 1799-1889
  • -  Government officials
  • -  Memory of the World
  • -  Politics and government
  • -  Portrait photographs
  • -  Portraits
  • -  United States. Congress
  • -  United States. War Department

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 1 photographic print : carte-de-visite, albumen paper ; 8.6 x 5.6 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: National Library of Brazil.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • The Photographic Album

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021669519

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse. Researchers are encouraged to review the source information attached to each item. For information on contacting WDL partner organizations, see this archived list of partners

The Library asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here.

Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

For additional information and contact information for many of the partner organizations, see this archived capture of the World Digital Library site from 2021.

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Anthony, Edward, Contributor, and Mathew B Brady. Secretary of War Simon Cameron. Pennsylvania United States of America, 1861. [New York: Edward Anthony, to 1876] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021669519/.

APA citation style:

Anthony, E. & Brady, M. B. (1861) Secretary of War Simon Cameron. Pennsylvania United States of America, 1861. [New York: Edward Anthony, to 1876] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021669519/.

MLA citation style:

Anthony, Edward, Contributor, and Mathew B Brady. Secretary of War Simon Cameron. [New York: Edward Anthony, to 1876] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021669519/>.