Augustus Washington

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Augustus Washington (c. 1820 – June 7, 1875) was an American‑Liberian photographer and politician. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he grew up a free person of color; his father was a former slave and his mother was said to be of South Asian descent. His mother died when he was young. He studied at the Oneida Institute and Kimball Union Academy, then attended Dartmouth College in 1843. He learned daguerreotype photography early in college to pay for his studies, but left Dartmouth in 1844 due to debt. He moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where he taught Black students and opened a daguerreotype studio in 1846. In 1853 he emigrated to Liberia with his wife Cordelia and their two children, hoping to help build a free Black nation in Africa.

Washington opened a daguerreotype studio in Monrovia and traveled to nearby regions. His photographs documented Liberia’s elite and political leaders and were sometimes commissioned by the American Colonization Society to present a favorable image of the colony to Americans considering recolonization. His portraits often show an idealized view of Liberian society, highlighting wealth and status rather than everyday life. He later became aware of social hierarchies and dependent relationships, and he stopped photography to become a sugarcane planter. He entered Liberian politics in 1858 and served in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, becoming Speaker of the House from 1865 to 1869. He died in Monrovia in 1875. He is best known for a daguerreotype of John Brown.