Daguerreotypes of members of the Harvard College Class of 1852

Harvard College graduating classes created records of the class as both a group and as individuals that followed them through their years at Harvard and beyond into their lives as alumni. The Class of 1852 was the first to use photography as a means of record-keeping. Class members posed for photographer John Adams Whipple, and the 83 daguerreotypes were stored together in a wooden chest with thin, flat drawers that could be pulled to allow for perusal of the images. Each drawer of the chest could accommodate twelve sixth-plate daguerreotypes.

Daguerreotypes are unique photographic images captured on a light-sensitized silver-plated sheets of copper. Sitting for a daguerreotype was physically uncomfortable and daguerreotypes were expensive, but the new technology became popular in Boston. By 1850 a number of daguerreotype studios had been established, including that of John Adams Whipple.