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Niagara--General view from American side

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Niagara--General view from American side

description

Summary

No. 910.

Attributed to William and Frederick Langenheim (Langenheim Brothers) of Philadelphia. (Source: J. Paul Getty Museum and researcher M. P. Higgins, 2018)
Forms part of the Marian S. Carson Collection at the Library of Congress.

Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the US state of New York and the Canadian province of Ontario. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, also known as Canadian Falls, which straddles the international border between Canada and the United States. The smaller American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls lie entirely within the United States. Bridal Veil Falls are separated from Horseshoe Falls by Goat Island and from American Falls by Luna Island, with both islands situated in New York as well. Located on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, the combined falls have the highest flow rate of any waterfall in North America that has a vertical drop of more than 50 meters (160 ft). Niagara Falls is famed both for its beauty and as a valuable source of hydroelectric power. In 1881, the Niagara River's first hydroelectric generating station was built. The water fell 86 feet (26 m) and generated direct current electricity, which ran the machinery of local mills and lit up some of the village streets. In 1893, Westinghouse Electric designed a system to generate alternating current. In 1896, giant underground conduits leading to turbines generating upwards of 100,000 horsepower (75 MW), we installed.

The Americana collection of Marian Sadtler Carson (1905-2004) spans the years 1656-1995 with the bulk of the material dating from 1700 to 1876. The collection includes more than 10,000 historical letters and manuscripts, broadsides, photographs, prints and drawings, books and pamphlets, maps, and printed ephemera from the colonial era through the 1876 centennial of the United States. It is believed to be the most extensive existing private collection of early Americana. The collection includes such important and diverse historical treasures as unpublished papers of Revolutionary War figures and the Continental Congress; letters of several American presidents, including Thomas Jefferson; a manuscript account of the departure of the first Pony Express rider from St. Joseph, Mo.; and what may be the earliest photograph of a human face. Many of the rare books and pamphlets in the collection pertain to the early Congresses of the United States, augmenting the Library's unparalleled collection of political pamphlets and imprints. The Carson Collection adds to the Library's holdings the first presidential campaign biography, John Beckley's Address to the people of the United States with an Epitome and vindication of the Public Life and Character of Thomas Jefferson, published in Philadelphia in 1800. The book was written to counter numerous attacks against Jefferson's character, which appeared in newspapers and pamphlets during the bitter election campaign. The Rare Book and Special Collections Division shares custodial responsibility for the collection with the Library's Geography and Map Division, Music Division, Prints and Photographs Division, and the Manuscript Division.

Langenheim Brothers was a photography studio founded in Philadelphia in 1846 by William and Frederick Langenheim. They were known for their innovative techniques and pioneering work in the field of photography. The Langenheim Brothers were among the first photographers to use the daguerreotype process and also experimented with stereoscopic photography, which produced 3D images. The Langenheim brothers' work was highly regarded and they received numerous awards for their photography, including a gold medal at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. They also photographed notable figures of their time, such as Edgar Allan Poe and Abraham Lincoln. The Langenheim Brothers' studio continued to operate into the early 1900s, and their legacy lives on through their contributions to the development of photography as an art form.

date_range

Date

01/01/1858
place

Location

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Source

Library of Congress
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Copyright info

No known restrictions on publication.

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