A New York mergers and acquisitions guy put the collection together over a period of 45 years. Unfortunately, people will probably need a New York Times subscription to read this article about the acquisition. The NY Times published it today:
Smithsonian Acquires Rare Photographs From the First African American Studios
Article sub-heading: "Daguerreotypes by James P. Ball, Glenalvin Goodridge and Augustus Washington are the centerpiece of a collection that could rewrite the early history of American photography."
The article has reproductions of eight photographs, including this ambrotype:
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