FSK from Home – Saving America’s Treasures: Preserving Daguerreotypes in the MCHC Collection

Learn about our work to preserve more than 300 daguerreotypes that document regional and national history in the MCHC collection, funded by a Save America’s Treasures grant. Zach Long, Photograph Conservator at the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia, and Catherine Mayfield, MCHC France-Merrick Director of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library, will dive deep into the art and craft of these first photographic images, highlighting narratives that have emerged through extensive research, and the conservation challenges these historic images present.

This spring we pull back the curtain on our collections through the FSK from Home Series—the virtual offering of our traditional Francis Scott Key Lecture Series. Connect with MCHC staff and our colleagues as they reveal the stories behind the objects we preserve, interpret, and display. When registering, please consider donating to the FSK from Home Giving Challenge to help us continue presenting these stellar virtual programs.

Image: “Portrait of Jeremiah and Venus Tilghman,”unknown photographer, full-plate daguerreotype, c.1845-1850. Maryland Center for History and Culture, H. Furlong Baldwin Library, CSPH 156