Restrictions to Access

The items in this collection are extremely fragile due to their age, the materials used to make them, and the fact that they are all unique originals. Daguerreotypes have no equivalent of a negative and cannot be physically reproduced. Researchers may be presented with a digital copy instead of original materials if the Photographic Archivist has determined the original should not be handled.

Restrictions to Use

No image in this collection may be reproduced without the permission and consent of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Restrictions to Use

These items are not covered by copyright and are in the public domain.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Daguerreotype Collection, #P008, year image was made [when known], North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library.

Acquisitions Information

The items in this collection came to the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives from a number of different and unrelated sources. Items in the first box and fourth box came to the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives from unrelated donors. Items in the second box came to the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives from the Miscellaneous Pictures Collection (1800-2000) in the Southern Historical Collection (#4090) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1996. Items in the third box came to the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives from the Williams Family Papers (1779-1948) in the Southern Historical Collection (#879) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1996.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Persons:
• Bennehan, Richard, 1743-1825.
• McNair, John Calvin.
• Myers family.
• Myers, William Starr, 1877-1956.
• Norris family.

General Subjects:
• Daguerreotype--North Carolina.
• Daguerreotype.
• Family--North Carolina--Photographs.
• North Carolina--Photographs.
• Photographs.
• Portrait photography.

• Portrait Collection (P002), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives
• Ambrotype Collection (P007), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives
• Tintypes (P009), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives
• William Starr Myers Papers (3260), Southern Historical Collection
• Miscellaneous Pictures (4090), Southern Historical Collection

Daguerreotypes are considered to be the first photographic process that produced images that could be made widely available to the general public, due to the relative simplicity of the process and high quality of the images produced. The process was originally developed in France by Louis M. Daguerre in 1839 and was improved upon until the process was superseded by other simpler photographic processes that produced higher quality images (such as ambrotypes and tintypes). At the base of the daguerreotype is a silver-coated copper plate that has been coated with a light-sensitive iodine residue. The plate is then exposed to light via a camera and captures an image of what is in front of the camera. The image becomes visible after further processing. These types of images were typically encased in glass to protect them and to make the copper plates more decorative. This format was in use around the world from 1839 into the early 1860s.

The Daguerreotype Collection contains 21 images taken of individuals and couples seated or standing for portraits, circa 1839-1860. Individuals appearing in the images have been identified whenever possible. Known individuals are listed as subject access points, as are identified locations. Included are images of members of the Myers and Norris family, who were relatives of William Starr Myers (1877-1956); John Calvin McNair, who endowed a lecture series on science and religion at the University of North Carolina; and an image of a painting of Richard Bennehan of the Cameron family of Orange County, N.C. The individual daguerreotypes are identified by the accession numbers given to each item. When the plates have been measured, their size is also listed.

Daguerreotypes are typically described using the following terms:

• Whole plate: 6-1/2 x 8-1/2 inches
• Half plate (1/2): 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 inches
• Quarter plate (1/4): 3-1/4 x 4-1/4 inches
• Sixth plate (1/6): 2-3/4 x 3-1/4 inches
• Ninth plate (1/9): 2 x 2-1/2 inches
• Sixteenth plate (1/16): 1-3/8 x 1-5/8 inches