Dated Images

1871 Portrait of Two Ladies by William Shaw of Chicago

This interesting photograph shows two ladies, one seated(?) with her back to the camera showing her extremely long hair. No chair is visible, perhaps she is on a small stool that is completely engulfed by her dress. Next to her is a fashionably attired young woman, perhaps her sister, standing with a hand on the seated woman’s shoulder. The two women face one another, but at different levels, and appear to gaze beyond each other. The standing woman is wearing a dark dress with a pronounced bustle, and a flower and ribbon topped hat.

There is an inscription on back that reads ‘Taken May 71′, and a photographer’s imprint with the NPA (National Photographic Association) logo. That logo was mostly used 1871-74. The photographer is William Shaw, and the imprint shows his address as 137 Twenty-Second Street, Chicago IL. Shaw was at that address beginning in 1871, until some time before he moved to State Street in 1874 or 1875.

Since Shaw had a different address in 1870, we might think he moved due to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 — but this image argues against that supposition. This is dated May of ‘71, while the fire was in October of that year. Since the earlier address was 186 Clark — right in the heart of the fire zone — while 22nd street is far south of the central city and nowhere near the fire, it seems his move was prescient. Rather than being engulfed by the blaze, Shaw was in an ideal location to document the tragedy photographically, and several of his images were used to create engravings that newspapers of the day used to report the disaster.