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Beecher Family Photograph Collection
photCL 688
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Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Beecher family photograph collection
Identifier/Call Number: photCL 688
Physical Description:
3.5 Linear Feet
(4 boxes)
Date (inclusive): approximately
1856-1880s
Abstract: A group of five 19th century
photographs of the Beecher family of New England, and an album of the Bullard family, the
family of Henry Ward Beecher's wife, Eunice (Bullard) Beecher.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information. RESTRICTED: Box 1 (Lyman Beecher portrait) is
fragile and only available with curatorial approval.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Beecher family photograph collection, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased for the Huntington from Luxury Catalogs Inc. - 19th Century Rare Book &
Photograph Shop by the Library Collectors' Council, March 19, 2022
The Beecher family was at the center of major 19th century social movements and events,
including women's rights, abolition, and the Civil War. Residing throughout New England,
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and later Brooklyn, Maine, and Florida, several Beechers achieved
wide acclaim. Lyman Beecher was a prominent preacher, Henry Ward Beecher a dynamic clergyman
and social reformer, Catharine Beecher a pioneer in education and careers for women, and
Harriet Beecher Stowe the author of the book Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852).
A collection of five photographs of various Beecher family members in five different
photographic formats: ambrotype, albumen print, carte-de-visite, cabinet photograph, and a
hand-colored salted paper print. A portrait of Lyman Beecher produced by Mathew Brady in
1856 is a combination of watercolor, ink, and pencil added to the surface of a salted paper
print. There are two variants of a Beecher family group portrait taken in 1859 depicting
Lyman Beecher and nine of his adult children; one is a large albumen print and the other an
ambrotype. Also included are an autographed cabinet photograph of an older Harriet Beecher
Stowe; and a hand-colored Augustus Morand print based on a miniature of a young Eunice White
(Bullard) Beecher, author and wife of Henry Ward Beecher. This carte-de-visite portrait is
within a Bullard family album containing 45 additional cartes-de-visite and cabinet
photographs. Only a few portraits in the album are identified, including some cousins of
Eunice Bullard.
Processed by Suzanne Oatey in November 2022.
The Huntington has another copy of the Harriet Beecher Stowe portrait: photPF 3316.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ambrotypes (photographs)
Autographs
Cabinet photographs
Card
photographs (photographs)
Cartes-de-visite (card photographs)
Families -- Photographs
Photograph albums
Photographs
Portraits
Salted paper prints
Beecher family
Beecher, Catharine Esther (Catharine Esther), 1800-1878
Beecher, H. W., Mrs., 1813-1897
Beecher, Lyman,
1775-1863
Brady, Mathew B., approximately 1823-1896
Bullard, William Reed, 1837-1890 -- Family
Hastings, G. H. (George H.)
Howe, George M.
Morand, Augustus, active 1840-1859
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896