Jessie Lincoln Beckwith, 1890

When Robert Lincoln was appointed as Minister to the United Kingdom in 1889, Jessie and her family moved to London. Around that time, the family acquired a new Kodak camera, which had revolutionized family photography in 1888 with a camera that used rolled film and allowed anyone to take photographs without elaborate equipment. This “snapshot” of Jessie—seated on a windowsill—was taken around 1890 outside the family’s home in London. Jessie was 15 years old.