WASHINGTON, D.C.
BEFORE THE LENS
25,000 glass negatives.
Thousands of lives.
One extraordinary photography studio.
C. M. Bell Studio
Rediscovering the people, families, politics, and culture
captured by one of Washington’s leading portrait studios.
Miss Jackson
C.M. Bell Studio. c.. 1890s.
Glass plate negative
Library of Congress
EXPLORE THE COLLECTION
Notables
Women
Native
Delegations
African American
Washington
Families
Writers & Artists
Soldiers
Children
RECENT DISCOVERIES
FACE FROM THE ARCHIVE
Frederick Douglass
Discover Frederick Douglass through a remarkable collection of documents that trace his life, convictions, relationships, and enduring place in the American story.
THE STORY OF C.M. BELL
Fredericksburg to Washington, D.C.
A family of locksmiths turned photographers, Charles Milton Bell’s lens captures a generation of Americans.
WATCH
Joe Cannon endured because he understood how Congress actually worked.