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Vintage photos of:
Our holdings include hundreds of glass and film negatives/transparencies that we've scanned ourselves; in addition, many other photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs) in the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) They are adjusted, restored and reworked by your webmaster in accordance with his aesthetic sensibilities before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here. All of these images (including "derivative works") are protected by copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be sold, reproduced or otherwise used for commercial purposes without permission.
[REV 25-NOV-2014]
January 1941. "Industrial area around New Bedford, Massachusetts." 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano. View full size.
August 1939. "The Derrick, roadhouse in Oklahoma City oil field." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
February 1939. "Fruit stand in Robstown, Texas." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
May 1943. Arlington, Virginia. "Sailor and his girl at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery." 4x5 inch Kodachrome transparency by John Collier for the Office of War Information. View full size.
1942. "White-hot steel pours like water from a 35-ton electric furnace at Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp., Brackenridge, Pa. The finest quality steels and alloys are produced in these furnaces, which allow much greater control of temperature than other conversion furnaces. The proportion of electric furnace steel is rising steadily, even though this process is the most expensive. The furnace is tilted for the pouring; the flying sparks indicate the fluidity of the steel." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. View full size.
1942. "Bessemer converter (iron into steel), Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp., Brackenridge, Pennsylvania." 4x5 inch Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. View full size.
May 1942. "Marine lieutenant by the power towing plane for the gliders at Parris Island, South Carolina." 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. View full size.
July 1941. "Flour mill in Caldwell, Idaho." 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
October 1942. "Preparing a model of the B-25 bomber for the wind tunnel at North American Aviation's plant at Inglewood, Calif." More here and here. Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. View full size.
July 1939. "Children of May Avenue camp, Oklahoma City. Their father is a trasher and they are playing with some things he picked up." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
San Francisco circa 1919. "Grant Six touring car." The man in back previously seen here. 5x7 glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size.
Winona, Minnesota, circa 1899. "A sawmill plant." Our title comes from the cryptic sign on the utility pole: DO NOT MEDDLE WITH THE WIRES. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
Tracy, Minnesota, circa 1899. "Engine of the South Dakota division, Chicago & North Western Ry." 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Photographic Co. View full size.
November 1936. "Portraits of destitute migrant agricultural workers and their children. Boy, fourteen, in eighth grade. Now unable to attend because of insufficient food and clothing. Subsisted two days on frozen tomatoes from field nearby. Father says, 'They call me a road hog and a bum, but if I am, how did that boy get into the eighth grade?' American River camp, near Sacramento." Photo by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.
November 1936. "Children and home of cotton workers at migratory camp in southern San Joaquin Valley, California." Medium format negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.