Snapshots of the Past

White House employee – Historic Print

White House employee, [between 1889 and 1906] — historic photograph
White House employee, [between 1889 and 1906]. Historic photograph from the White House collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Step back in time with White House employee, a historic photograph rich in period detail. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Since 2001, Snapshots of the Past has shipped historic prints to tens of thousands of customers around the world.

White House employee

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Ask about licensing or this print

Little is recorded about this cyanotype, which shows a White House employee whose name has not survived with the picture. The process, which yields a distinctive blue-toned print, was cheap and simple, and it stayed in use for portraits and copy work through the 1890s and early 1900s. Dated between 1889 and 1906, the image falls in the years when the executive mansion relied on a large staff of clerks, doormen, and household workers, many of whom appear almost nowhere in the written record. That anonymity is what makes the picture worth a closer look, offering a glimpse of the people who kept the building running around the presidents who lived there.

Created / published[between 1889 and 1906]
Medium1 photographic print : cyanotype.
GenrePortrait photographs 1880-1910.Cyanotypes 1880-1910.
NotesNo. 8665.
SubjectsWhite House (Washington, D.C.)--People--1880-1910. Office workers--Washington (D.C.)--1880-1910.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,121 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-162178

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