Imagine with us, now, an art curator’s dream: an overlooked cache of 19th-century glass-plate negatives is discovered, prints are commissioned, and the images ultimately make their debut at a museum. It only took 130-plus years for this particular dream to come true. Forgotten Cincinnati: Photographs from the 1880s came about when collectors passed along a stash of photos printed from photographer Walt Burton’s trove of antique negatives to the Taft, which the museum has displayed alongside two of the original plates. Taken together, the photos give a rare day-in-the-life glimpse of 1880s Cincinnati, revealing old corners of our city—such as Fourth and Race—that are now built up, altered, or in some cases, gone forever.

Collection of Mike Hoeting

Collection of Jeffrey J. McClorey

Collection of Mike Hoeting

Collection of Mike Hoeting

Collection of Mike Hoeting

Collection of Jeffrey J. McClorey
Thru March 5, Taft Museum of Art, taftmuseum.org
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