The National Portrait Gallery purchased the earliest known photograph of an American first lady: an 1846 daguerreotype of Dolley Madison taken by John Plumbe Jr.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by official Smithsonian/National Portrait Gallery press release and corroborated by multiple independent news outlets (CNN, The Art Newspaper, Connecticut Public, The History Blog) and Wikipedia. Minor variation in phrasing ('circa 1846' vs '1846') does not affect substance. [cascade flags: wikipedia_dropped_other_sources_exist | tier=silver indep_score=0.917 clusters=3 claim_tier=notable]
Sources
- Eleven Fascinating Acquisitions That Joined the ... (seed:culture_and_philosophy)
- https://npg.si.edu/about-us/press-release/national-portrait-gallery-acquires-earliest-known-photograph-us-first-lady (corroboration)
- https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/07/03/dolley-madison-daguerreotype-acquired-national-portrait-gallery (corroboration)
- https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/national-portrait-gallery-acquires-earliest-known-photograph-us-first-lady (corroboration)
- https://us.cnn.com/2024/07/09/style/dolley-madison-first-lady-photo-smithsonian-tan/ (corroboration)