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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
Size | 22 encased images |
Abstract | Collection of ambrotype photographs collected by the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives. Ambrotypes were in production from the early 1850s into the early 1880s. Collection contains 22 images taken of individuals seated or standing for portraits, circa 1852-1880. Individuals appearing in the images include Omar ibn Said, a Black writer and Islamic Scholar who was enslaved for most of his life, and students at Wesleyan Female Institute in Murfreesboro, N.C. Also included are images depicting white soldiers who served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, including General Bryan Grimes of the 4th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, members of the "Iredell Blues," and Meshack F. Hunt of the 5th North Carolina Infantry Regiment. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. North Carolina Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, 1997 and 2010
Encoded by: Patrick Cullom, December 2010
Donors have been identified when known, and materials received from the same donor have been grouped together.
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
Back to TopThe 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.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Ambrotypes were produced using an early photographic format originally developed in England by Frederick Scott Archer in 1852. In 1854 the format was patented in the United States by James Ambrose Cutting. The format replaced daguerreotypes due to the relative ease with which they could be developed and the superiority of the images produced by the process. At the base is a piece of glass that is coated with an iodized collodion solution that is then coated with a light sensitive silver solution. The plate is then exposed to light, via a camera, and the image (negative) becomes visible after further processing. The back of the exposed/developed glass plate is covered with a black covering (paper, paint, or cloth) and then encased with a piece of glass on the front. This format was in use around the world from 1852 into the early 1880s.
Back to TopCollection contains 22 images taken of individuals seated or standing for portraits, circa 1852-1880. Individuals appearing in the images include Omar ibn Said, a Black writer and Islamic Scholar who was enslaved for most of his life, and students at Wesleyan Female Institute in Murfreesboro, N.C. Also included are images depicting white soldiers who served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, including General Bryan Grimes of the 4th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, members of the "Iredell Blues," and Meshack F. Hunt of the 5th North Carolina Infantry Regiment.
Back to TopArrangement: Accession number.
Names included with descriptions come from original accessioning notes found with materials.
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0001 |
Portrait of unidentified white man, circa 18601 encased image Accession number: 22503. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0002 |
Portrait of unidentified white woman, circa 18601 encased image Accession number: 22504. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0003 |
Portrait of unidentified white man, circa 18601 encased image Accession number: 22505. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0004 |
Portrait of unidentified white man and woman, circa 18601 encased image Accession number: 22506; Two separate portraits encased together. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0005 |
Portrait of unidentified white man, circa 1852-18801 encased image Accession number: 22508. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0006 |
Portrait of Omar Ibn Said (1770?- 1864?), circa 18551 encased image Accession number: 22509. |
Arrangement: Accession number.
Includes images of some Harris and Umstead family members.
Names included with descriptions come from original accessioning notes found with materials.
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0007 |
Portrait of William Harris (1809-1891), circa 18591 encased image and 1 copy negative Accession number: 30534-1. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0008 |
Portrait of Archer Love Harris (1835-1855), circa 1852-18551 encased image and 1 copy negative Accession number: 30534-2. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0009 |
Portrait of Emmeline Temperance Harris Umstead (1839-1871), circa 18621 encased image and 1 copy negative Accession number: 30534-3. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0010 |
Portrait of Parthenia Francis Duty Harris (1821-1852), circa 18521 encased image and 1 copy negative Accession number: 30534-4. |
Arrangement: Accession number.
Includes an image of students at Wesleyan Female Institute in Murfreesboro, N.C., from the 1850s and Civil War-era images of General Bryan Grimes of the 4th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, members of the "Iredell Blues", and Meshack F. Hunt of the 5th North Carolina Infantry Regiment.
Names included with descriptions come from original accessioning notes found with materials.
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0011 |
Portrait of unidentified white man, circa 18601 encased image and one copy negative Accession number: 26275. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0012 |
Portrait of graduating class of Wesleyan Female Institute (Murfreesboro, N.C.), circa 18541 encased image Accession number: 30160. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0013 |
Portrait of unidentified white woman, circa 18601 encased image Accession number: 30772. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0014 |
Portrait of Bryan Grimes (1828-1880), circa 18601 encased image Accession number: None ; Grimes was member of 4th North Carolina Infantry Regiment. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0015 |
Group portrait of the "Iredell Blues" in Statesville, N.C., circa 18601 encased image and 1 copy print Accession number: 30596_0001. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0016 |
Portrait of Meshack F. Hunt (b. 1840?), circa 18601 encased image, 1 copy print, 1 color 35mm slide Accession number: 30596_0002; Meshack was a member of 5th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, Company E. |
Image Box
IB-P0007/1
Image Folder PF-P0007/0017 |
Portrait of David Ward Simmons, circa 1861-18641 encased image Accession number: 26275. |