The Smithsonian Acquires the Earliest Known Photograph of an American First Lady
A circa 1846 portrait of Dolley Madison by John Plumbe Jr. Sotheby's Three years before her death in 1849 at age 81, Dolley Madison posed for photographer John Plumbe Jr. at his studio in Washington, D.C. Clad in a crocheted shawl and one of her famous …