“Dirty Work” for a Woman: Exploring the Life and Career of Daguerreotypist Sarah Garrett Hewes
Presentation Type
Event
Start Date
8-3-2026 4:14 PM
Description
Sarah Garrett Hewes (1819-1853) did not conform to the norms expected of a woman living in mid-19th century America. Born into a financially comfortable Quaker family in southeastern Pennsylvania, challenging life circumstances led Hewes to become a daguerreotypist at a time when less than 5% of that profession in the United States were women. Hewes’s decision to not join her brother’s daguerreotype studio made her even more of an outlier since many of the women practicing photography in its earliest years worked side by side with a male family member, or only briefly carried on the work of a studio after the death of their spouse. From 1850 until her death, Hewes, however, worked both independently and in partnership with the well-established daguerreotypist Samuel Broadbent, travelling around the Delaware Valley region before finally setting up a studio in a very advantageous location in Philadelphia. Through her daguerreotype work, Hewes supported herself and her three young children. Only a few daguerreotypes taken by Hewes still exist today, but in part because of her family’s prominence, it has been possible to build a fairly extensive biographical portrait of Sarah Hewes. This presentation examines Sarah Garrett Hewes’s life and career, showing examples of her daguerreotypes, newspaper advertisements, studio views, and other pieces of ephemera to explore why she became a daguerreotypist and her degree of success with her chosen career path.
Sarah Weatherwax has worked at the Library Company of Philadelphia since 1993. She received a B.A. in History from the College of Wooster (Ohio), and a M.A. in History from the College of William and Mary. She has published articles in the Daguerreian Annual, The Magazine Antiques, Pennsylvania History, and Imprint: The Journal of the American Historical Print Collectors Society, and contributed a chapter about lithographer Peter S. Duval to Philadelphia on Stone: Commercial Lithography in Philadelphia, 1828-1878. Exhibitions she has curated at the Library Company include Catching a Shadow: Daguerreotypes in Philadelphia, 1839-1860; Together We Win: The Philadelphia Homefront during the First World War; William Birch, Ingenious Artist: His Life, His Philadelphia Views, and His Legacy; and Imperfect History: Curating the Graphic Arts Collection at Benjamin Franklin’s Public Library. Her research interests include women in photography and Philadelphia’s built environment. She currently serves on the board of the American Historical Print Collectors Society.
Relational Format
Conference proceeding
Recommended Citation
Weatherwax, Sarah J., "“Dirty Work” for a Woman: Exploring the Life and Career of Daguerreotypist Sarah Garrett Hewes" (2026). Women of Photography: A 24-Hour Conference-a-thon Celebrating International Women’s Day. 39.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/womenofphotography/2026/schedule/39
“Dirty Work” for a Woman: Exploring the Life and Career of Daguerreotypist Sarah Garrett Hewes
Sarah Garrett Hewes (1819-1853) did not conform to the norms expected of a woman living in mid-19th century America. Born into a financially comfortable Quaker family in southeastern Pennsylvania, challenging life circumstances led Hewes to become a daguerreotypist at a time when less than 5% of that profession in the United States were women. Hewes’s decision to not join her brother’s daguerreotype studio made her even more of an outlier since many of the women practicing photography in its earliest years worked side by side with a male family member, or only briefly carried on the work of a studio after the death of their spouse. From 1850 until her death, Hewes, however, worked both independently and in partnership with the well-established daguerreotypist Samuel Broadbent, travelling around the Delaware Valley region before finally setting up a studio in a very advantageous location in Philadelphia. Through her daguerreotype work, Hewes supported herself and her three young children. Only a few daguerreotypes taken by Hewes still exist today, but in part because of her family’s prominence, it has been possible to build a fairly extensive biographical portrait of Sarah Hewes. This presentation examines Sarah Garrett Hewes’s life and career, showing examples of her daguerreotypes, newspaper advertisements, studio views, and other pieces of ephemera to explore why she became a daguerreotypist and her degree of success with her chosen career path.
Sarah Weatherwax has worked at the Library Company of Philadelphia since 1993. She received a B.A. in History from the College of Wooster (Ohio), and a M.A. in History from the College of William and Mary. She has published articles in the Daguerreian Annual, The Magazine Antiques, Pennsylvania History, and Imprint: The Journal of the American Historical Print Collectors Society, and contributed a chapter about lithographer Peter S. Duval to Philadelphia on Stone: Commercial Lithography in Philadelphia, 1828-1878. Exhibitions she has curated at the Library Company include Catching a Shadow: Daguerreotypes in Philadelphia, 1839-1860; Together We Win: The Philadelphia Homefront during the First World War; William Birch, Ingenious Artist: His Life, His Philadelphia Views, and His Legacy; and Imperfect History: Curating the Graphic Arts Collection at Benjamin Franklin’s Public Library. Her research interests include women in photography and Philadelphia’s built environment. She currently serves on the board of the American Historical Print Collectors Society.