DOROTHY DRAPER 1839

THE HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF CINEMATOGRAPHY

DOROTHY DRAPER 1839 This photograph has three claims to fame;   🎞️ it’s likely the first photographic portrait made in the US 🎞️ it’s likely the earliest surviving photograph of a woman 🎞️ it’s likely one of the first clear ‘Daguerreotype’ taken of a human face   The year is 1839.  Her name is Dorothy Catherine Draper (1807-1901) aged 32. She attended NY University in 1839 (some say 1840). Her brother Dr. John W. Draper was a professor there and he took the photo. Dr. John had many accomplishments himself. Some research shows the ‘Daguerreotype’ of Dorothy was taken on the roof of the school. Other reports say it was taken in his NY University studio.   ARTOTYPE / AUTOTYPE Any Photograph we see of Dorothy is in fact a ‘copy Daguerreotype’ (Artotype copy), and not the original.  This ‘Artotype ’ was made by Dr. Draper's son Daniel while the original was being displayed at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Then, later in the 1930s the original ‘Daguerreotype’ was damaged during an attempt at restoration. Below, a library copy with note reading: see quote in images Dorothy sat for a 65-second exposure; her face dusted with flour to enhance contrast. The original ‘Artotype’ resides at the @SpencerMuseum of Art in Lawrence, Kansas. Below courtesy the museum is ‘Portrait of Dorothy Catherine Draper’ (Kansas State Historical Society). These 3 pages (see images) below are referring to J. W. Draper and his Daguerreotype-taking process. They are from ‘The History of Photography - From the Camera Obscura to The Beginning of The Modern Era’ (Helmut & Alison Gernsheim, Thames & Hudson, London, 1969), on pp121,125. John W. Draper has the distinction of having taken this Photograph of the moon in 1840, the earliest surviving ‘Daguerreotype’ of the moon. see images This ‘Artotype’ Daguerreotype (see images) remains in the Draper family & is on loan to the Smithsonian by John William Christopher Draper & James Christopher Draper.  Dorothy passed away aged 94 in 1901. Data Sources; National Museum of American History, Smithsonian, and the U. of Houston. Further research reveals that Dr. John William Draper who took the photo of his sister Dorothy, called it the "earliest sunlight picture of a human face." Perhaps proving it was in fact taken on the roof. -30-