William Roe Howell

William Roe Howell

William Roe Howell (April 9 1846 - December 30 1890) was a prominent New York City photographer of the 1870s, known mostly for portraits of political and theatrical celebrities.

William Howell was born in Goshen, New York. His first love was art, but that developed into a professional interest in photography. Around 1863, Howell moved to New York City and worked for photographers Henry and Robert Johnston whose photographic gallery was located at 867 Broadway. He took over their business around 1867 and stayed at that location until about 1880. In 1870, at the age of 24, the press began recognizing him as an "accomplished young artist." He also married Fannie Charlotte Scott of Baltimore that same year. Howell photographed notables such as Buffalo Bill, Horace Greeley, P.T. Barnum, Harriet Beecher Stowe and George Armstrong Custer. Howell was chosen as class photographer for both Princeton College (1869-1870 and 1872-1873) and the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York (1873).

The highlight of William Howell's career came in 1873 when his photographs were awarded a special grand prize at the World's Fair held in Vienna, Austria (Weltausstellung 1873 Wien). A collection of these photos, under the title of Howell's Album of Studies, sold in the U.S. for $8.00.

Howell closed his New York studio around 1880 and went into retirement. In 1886 he was living in Washington, D.C. attempting to open a new studio. In 1887, two weeks before its formal opening, he disappeared, and left his wife and five children penniless. His wife admitted he was an eccentric man and was bothered by his business partner for spending too much money. Howell eventually returned to his family, but the studio was not a success.

Howell moved back to New York around 1889 and died in 1890 of tuberculosis at the home of fellow photographer, Lawrence Perkinson. He was buried at Slate Hill Cemetery, Goshen, New York.

Sadly, Howell died when he was only 44 and never gained the name recognition that other contemporary photographers have attained such as Mathew Brady or Napoleon Sarony. However, as if it's a late, fitting tribute to his work, many of his celebrity photographs are regularly sold on eBay.

External links

William Howell website at: [http://williamhowell.org]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Howell (surname) — Howell is a surname (family name or last name) originating from the British Isles. It is a common name among those of Welsh ancestry, as it is an anglicized form of the Welsh name Hywel, which means eminent in the Welsh language. See: Welsh… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Conservative Party (UK) MPs — This is a list of Conservative Party MPs. It includes all Members of Parliament elected to the British House of Commons representing the Conservative Party from 1834 onwards. Members of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly or the European… …   Wikipedia

  • Jesse Helms — United States Senator from North Carolina In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 2003 Preceded by B. Everett Jordan Succeeded by …   Wikipedia

  • Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination — Official portrait of Clarence Thomas as chairman of the Equal Opportunity Commission circa 1989 90 On July 1, 1991, President George H. W. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court of the United States to replace Thurgood Marshall, who …   Wikipedia

  • Opposition research — For the West Wing episode, see Opposition Research. Part of the Politics series Political campaigning …   Wikipedia

  • List of Honorverse characters — This is intended to be a comprehensive list of the names of even minor fictional character in the Honorverse, a series of military science fiction novels written by David Weber. Characters are sorted by their last name. Some are sorted by first… …   Wikipedia

  • 2004 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States — The Supreme Court of the United States handed down six per curiam opinions during its 2004 term, which lasted from October 4, 2004 until October 3, 2005. These were all decisions in which the Court either dismissed a writ of certiorari as… …   Wikipedia

  • List of members of the United States House of Representatives who served a single term — This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it. One term congressmen are members of the United States House of Representatives that spent only one two year term (or less) in office usually either due to death, resignation, or defeat. In… …   Wikipedia

  • United States congressional delegations from New York — These are tables of congressional delegations from New York to the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives. Over the years, New York has demographically changed so that it is hard to consider each district to be a… …   Wikipedia

  • United States congressional delegations from New Jersey — These are tables of congressional delegations from New Jersey to the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives. Contents 1 United States Senate 2 United States House of Represe …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”