Mathew Brady Timeline

After the Civil War, Brady’s success was limited. He had accumulated a large debt photographing the war, over $100,000 and the United States government did not purchase the rights to the photographs like Brady had hoped. Due to this debt, Brady was unable to maintain his multiple studios. In 1868, in order to pay off some of his debts, he was forced to auction off his studio in Washington, DC. In an attempt to earn some more money to buy his studio back, Brady photographs many official groups and delegations in Washington, including the committee to impeach President Andrew Johnson, the Ute tribal treaty delegation, and the All-England cricket team (Katz & Brady, 1991). Brady is able to make enough money to purchase a new studio on Pennsylvania

Brady was once again unsuccessful in this endeavor. In 1873, Brady was forced to file bankruptcy and sell off one of his studios in New York City. By 1894, Brady was forced to sell off all but one of his studios, the studio below his nephew 's home in Washington, DC. Brady’s nephew was kind enough to allow Brady to keep the studio without having to pay rent (Mathew Brady 's World - A Biographical Timeline). In late December of 1895, Brady was involved in a street car accident where he broke both of his legs. Brady was admitted to the charity ward of Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, where he died on January 16, 1896, penniless. Brady was so poor at the time of his death that his family was unable to pay for his funeral and burial, the New York 7th Regiment Veterans Association donated the money to have a proper funeral and burial for Brady. Brady is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington DC (Katz & Brady, 1991). Following Brady’s death, what remained of his photography business was taken over by his nephew, Levin Corbin Handy, who was also a

Mathew Brady had a paramount impact on the foundation of photojournalism, the process of wartime photography and opening the eyes of the general public to the horrors of war. Brady’s impact expands farther than that of his impact on the Civil War, Brady’s portraiture business had great success and began spreading Brady’s name before the war. Even though the cost of documenting the war destroyed his financial situation Brady continued to press on in his career. Brady’s life ended in tragedy, but even at that he was able to make an impact large enough to span generations, allowing future generations to see the realities of the Civil