Primary sourcePhotograph1850
Millard Fillmore
Southworth and Hawes · 1850
A daguerreotype portrait of Millard Fillmore taken around the time he became president in 1850.
A life photograph of Fillmore taken around the time he became president.
About this source
What it is
This is a daguerreotype photograph of Millard Fillmore made by the studio of Southworth and Hawes around 1850, now held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It shows him as an older man with white hair, wearing a dark jacket and cravat.
Why it matters
Daguerreotypes were an early photographic process, and this one is considered a high-quality likeness taken from life rather than copied from a painting. It gives students a rare, direct visual record of Fillmore's appearance at the start of his presidency, a period when photography was still new.
Look closer
- What does Fillmore's posture and expression suggest about how he wanted to be seen?
- Why might a photograph from life feel different to historians than a painted portrait?
- What can and can't a single formal photograph tell you about a person's character or politics?
This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Millard Fillmore on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.
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Millard Fillmore's Second State of the Union Address
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Millard Fillmore
Unidentified Artist · 1843
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