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1828–1896
**John Cameron** (ca. 1828–after 1896) was a Scottish-born American lithographer best known for his long association with the New York firm Currier & Ives. Little is documented about his early life or formal training before he emigrated to the United States, but by the late 1850s he had established himself in New York as a skilled draftsman and lithographic artist. He worked as one of the firm’s principal lithographers, often adapting compositions to the stone and contributing to both political caricatures and scenes of everyday American life.
Cameron worked in the Currier & Ives tradition of hand-colored lithography, producing affordable, vividly printed images that reached a broad popular audience. His output included sporting prints, portraits of racehorses, and the well-known “Darktown” series of caricatures depicting African American subjects. He frequently signed important pieces, distinguishing his contributions from the many anonymous hands employed by the firm.
Among his documented works are political prints such as “Going for Him” (c. 1868) and numerous Currier & Ives sporting and genre scenes issued through the 1870s and 1880s. His technical facility helped maintain the high production standards that made Currier & Ives the leading American print publisher of the nineteenth century.
Cameron’s legacy lies in his role as one of the firm’s most prolific and recognizable artists. His prints helped shape popular visual culture in the United States, preserving images of politics, sport, and social life that remain valuable historical documents today. He continued working for Currier & Ives into the later decades of the firm’s existence, outliving many of his contemporaries.