James Presley Ball facts for kids

James Presley Ball, Sr. (1825 – May 4, 1904) was a very important African-American photographer. He was also an abolitionist, which means he worked hard to end slavery. Besides that, he was a successful businessman.

Biography of James Presley Ball

Ball was born in Frederick County, Virginia, in 1825. His parents were William and Susan Ball. He learned a special type of early photography called "daguerreotype" from John B. Bailey. Bailey was also a free Black man from Boston.

Early Photography Studios

In 1845, Ball opened his first photography studio in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was just one room. This business didn't do very well at first. So, Ball became a traveling photographer. He worked in different places for a short time. He lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and then in Richmond, Virginia, in 1846. In Richmond, he opened a more successful studio near the State Capitol building.

In 1847, Ball traveled back to Ohio as a photographer. He settled in Cincinnati in 1849. There, he opened a new studio. His brother, Thomas Ball, worked with him. This gallery became very famous. It was known as "Ball's Great Daguerrean Gallery of the West." It grew from a small place to one of the best galleries in the Midwest.

Working with Robert S. Duncanson

Starting in 1854, a famous artist named Robert S. Duncanson worked in Ball's studio for about four years. Duncanson helped by fixing up portraits and adding color to the photographs. In 1854, a magazine called Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion wrote about the gallery. It said the gallery had 187 photos by Ball and 6 paintings by Duncanson. The magazine also described the gallery as very beautiful. It had walls decorated with gold and flowers, fancy furniture, a piano, and mirrors.

Abolitionist Work and Travels

Ball also opened another gallery called the Ball and Thomas Gallery. He ran this with his brother-in-law, Alexander Thomas. In 1855, Ball published a special pamphlet. It was against slavery. This pamphlet came with a huge painting, 600 yards long! It was called "Mammoth Pictorial Tour of the United States Comprising Views of the African Slave Trade." This painting showed scenes of the slave trade. Duncanson probably helped create this large painting.

In 1855, Ball's daguerreotypes were shown at the Ohio State Fair. They were also shown at the Ohio Mechanics Annual Exhibition. In 1856, Ball traveled to Europe. Sadly, a tornado destroyed the Ball and Thomas Gallery in May 1860. But the community helped them rebuild it.

Later Life and Studios

In the 1870s, Ball ended his partnership with Thomas. He moved to several different cities. He lived in Greenville, Mississippi; Vidalia, Louisiana; and St. Louis, Missouri. Then he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. There, he opened a new studio. By 1887, his studio was called "J. P. Ball & Son, Artistic Photographers." His son, James Presley Ball, Jr., worked with him. In September 1887, Ball became the official photographer for a big event. This event was the 25th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. This was the announcement that freed many enslaved people.

In October 1887, Ball moved again. This time he went to Helena, Montana. He set up the "J. P. Ball & Son" studio there. By 1894, Ball was active in local politics in Helena. He was even nominated for a county position, but he chose not to take it.

Around 1900, the Ball family likely moved to Seattle, Washington. Ball opened the Globe Photo Studio there. He might have moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1901. The family then moved to Honolulu in 1902. James Presley Ball, Sr. died there in 1904.

Works by James Presley Ball

Book

• Ball, James Presley. Ball's splendid mammoth pictorial tour of the United States. This book was published in Cincinnati in 1855. It included views of the African slave trade, cities in the North and South, cotton and sugar farms, and famous places like Niagara Falls.

Photographs

James Presley Ball took portraits of many famous people. Some of these included P. T. Barnum, Charles Dickens, Henry Highland Garnet, the family of Ulysses S. Grant, Jenny Lind, and Queen Victoria. Most of his known photographs were daguerreotypes. These were early photos made on silver-coated copper plates. He also used albumen prints, which were paper photos, often as small cards called carte de visites.

In 1992, one of Ball's daguerreotypes was sold for a lot of money. It was a picture of three storefronts in Cincinnati from 1851. It sold for $63,800. This set a world record at the time for the highest price paid for a daguerreotype at an auction.

Ball's photographs are kept in many important places. These include the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Cincinnati Historical Society, the George Eastman Museum, the Library of Congress, the Montana Historical Society, Ohio State University, and the University of Washington.

See also

• List of African-American abolitionists
• Alice Ball, his granddaughter