Official Escorts for the Japanese Ambassador's Visit to the United States, 1860

Professional photographers made photographic portraits like this carte-de-visite to mark important events. U.S. Navy officers, Samuel Francis Du Pont (center), Sidney Smith Lee (left) and David Dixon Porter (right) served as the official escort for Japan's first diplomatic mission to the U.S. This diplomatic visit fascinated many Americans and they collected carte-de-visite photographs to remember the celebrities.