After its most recent historic acquisition, the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) now holds the largest collection of daguerreotypes by three prominent African American photography pioneers—James P. Ball, Glenalvin Goodridge and Augustus Washington. It’s a major piece of photographic history of early photographs by Black artists assembled over 45 years by collector Larry West.

The collection, which is expected to be added to a permanent display, is important both for the artists behind the lens and the people in front of it. With work by Ball, Goodridge, Washington and unknown artists, the set includes portraits of abolitionists as well as women who raised money for the underground railroad. But, the images also demonstrate that African Americans were also part of the rapid growth of the first accessible photograph. Ball, Goodridge, and Washington all owned portrait studios and captured portraits of both Black and white men and women.

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“The transition from miniature painting to the photographic portrait is really a democratization of portraiture,” SAAM Curator of Photography John Jacob told The New York Times. “But in order to explore that story, a collection has to have diverse photographers and the images have to have diverse subjects—that’s the only way to tell the story of democratization. We couldn’t tell this story before; now, by bringing in Larry’s collection, this is something we can do now.”

The collection includes daguerreotypes by Ball, Goodridge, and Washington as well as images capturing abolitionists, the Underground Railroad and its female entrepreneurs, and early photographic jewelry. With only 166 known daguerreotypes by the three artists, SAAM now owns almost 25 percent of them with 40 images. The Library of Congress owns 26 daguerreotypes by the three artists.

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In addition to recognizing the importance of historic Black photographers, the photographers in the collection were also businessmen. Goodridge, who was born into slavery and freed at age 16, owned not just a photography studio but a barbershop and a railroad line. York Daily Record notes that his building was once the tallest in town until another built a six-story building, which evidence suggests was built in part to outdo Goodridge.

Ball, who was born in Virginia in 1825, was both a photographer and an abolitionist. According to the Cincinnati Museum Center, Ball’s first studio failed to take off, which led Ball to take photographs while traveling from 1845 to 1849. His second attempt at starting a studio, once again in Cincinnati, created a historic gallery that included nine employees. He later opened another gallery in the 1850s.

Washington first took to photography to earn money while attending college at Dartmouth. He quickly built a successful studio in Hartford, Connecticut. Washington eventually used the money from his studio to move is family to Liberia. He continued taking portraits after the move, including photographing politicians before becoming one himself and serving a term as a senator.

The SAAM says that the purchase of the collection “establishes itself as a center for research and new scholarship in this field.” The collection will be part of an upcoming exhibit on early American photography, the museum says, which is also part of an effort to bring back permanent collections.