blogpop: June 2009 Archives

On Friday, June 19, James H. Daugherty, read from his newly published book, The Buffalo Saga at Kefa Café. The event was hosted by Cynthia Parker of Silver Spring Books. Daugherty is a longtime Silver Spring resident and was the first African American to serve on the Montgomery County School Board. In WWII he served our country as a soldier in the army's 92nd Infantry Division in the European theatre. Those soldiers were known as the Buffalo Soldiers in a unit made up of African Americans. Mr. Daugherty was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for heroic achievement and a Combat Infantryman Badge for outstanding performance of duty in action against the enemy.

by Jerry McCoy

Recently the Silver Spring Historical Society accessioned through purchase an incredibly rare and important photograph, the earliest known image of the "silver" spring taken over 140 years ago. 

Known as a stereo view card, the photograph is actually one of a pair that was taken by a single camera with two lenses.  The lenses were spaced about two and a half inches apart, the average distance between a person's eyes.  The two black and white photographs are mounted side by side onto a 3 1/4" by 6 3/4" heavy card that is viewed using a device called a stereoscope.  This viewer allows the user's eyes to blend the two images into one, which enables the brain to perceive the image in three dimensions.