Mark Twain (1908)
Born Samuel Clemens in 1835, Mark Twain worked his way to becoming one of America’s most prolific writers. The Florida, MO native is highly regarded under the adult literature category. He is popular for books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Prince and the Pauper. But, we have to admit most of his writings contained lifestyle occurrences during his age. Laura Trombley describes Twain as “America’s first celebrity.”Interestingly, Twain would always wear a white suit in public, but he decided to “compromise” to suit the requests of the photographer for this photo. According to the Los Angeles Times, this photo is a rare capture of Twain that was taken close to the end of 1908. The red dressing gown was a request from Alvin Langdon Coburn, the photographer, who believed if Twain were wearing his traditional white outfit, the picture wouldn’t have been this classic.
Mark Twain
President Martin Van Buren (c. 1852)
Martin Van Burn was born in 1782 and held the position of the eighth President of the United States of America and the first President to be an American native and not British. History has Van Buren to be one who created a legacy based mostly on division, yet he had a somewhat great impact on the political growth of the country. Even though Van Buren has much better photos, this one was chosen due to the story aligned to it. This photo depicts Van Buren’s visit to Brady in the midst of a raging storm that was hitting the country. But when asked why he chose to come under such harsh weather conditions, Van Buren noted he was a man of his words, and if he said he was coming, once it is possible…he will make it.
President Martin Van Buren
