These pocket-sized portraits were exceedingly popular starting in the 1840s. For the first time in history, having an image of your likeness was easily accessible. ⁣ ⁣ Daguerreotypes were created through a chemical reaction. The base is a copper sheet covered in a thin layer of silver and iodine was applied to make it light sensitive. The sheet was then added to the camera where it would react to the mercury vapor fumes to produce an image. ⁣ ⁣ This method only required the sitters to sit still for 2-3 seconds, which made it ideal for family photography, especially with little ones who liked to move about. ⁣ ⁣ These three Daguerreotypes are of:⁣ (1) Roscoe Conkling, a future New York Senator (2) Elizabeth Barnwell Smith Mills⁣ and her husband, Robert Mills (3) Thomas Wentworth Higginson with his nieces and nephew