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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]
October 1941. "Picnic party from the mill towns enjoys the autumn foliage of the Berkshires along the Mohawk Trail in Massachusetts." View full size. Medium format nitrate negative by John Collier for the Farm Security Administration.
April 1940. "Mailboxes in Catron County, New Mexico." View full size. Medium format safety negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration.
"Fort Burnham, Virginia, the former Confederate Fort Harrison. Federal soldiers in front of bomb-proof headquarters." Photographs from the main Eastern theater of war, the Army of the James, June 1864-April 1865. Wet plate glass negative, half of stereo pair, photographer unknown. View full size.
February 1940. "Girls in beer parlor adjoining dance hall. Marshalltown, Iowa." View full size. Medium format safety negative by Arthur Rothstein for the FSA.
Atlanta, March 1915. Mrs. Dora Stainers, 562½ Decatur St. 39 years old. Began spinning in an Atlanta mill at 7 years, and is in this mill for 32 years. Only 4 days of schooling in her life. Began at 20 cents a day. The most she ever made was $1.75 a day & now she is earning $1 a day when she works. Her little girl Lillie is the same age she was when she started work, but the mother says, "I ain't goin to put her to work if I can help it. I'm goin' to give her as much education as I can so she can do better than I did." Mrs. Stainers is a woman of exceptional ability considering her training. View full size. Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine.
Newark, New Jersey. December 1912. "Eldridge Bernard, 11 years old. Buster Smith, 6 years old. Colored route boys of Newark. Taken at 4 p.m." Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. Library of Congress. View full size.
February 1942. "Something the matter with your wringer? It probably needs a few drops of oil. Regular lubrication by your repair man assures smooth functioning of the mechanism. If you attempt to do the job yourself, you may find the family wash oiled." View full size. Medium-format negative by Ann Rosener, OWI.
August 1942. "George Woolslayer celebrated the visit of the soldier and sailor with a party at his home. Friends, relatives and fellow workers made up the list of guests. No ordinary party, this one will be remembered by the Woolslayers for years to come. Festivities started at 8 p.m. and lasted well into the next morning. Proudly seated on Sergeant French L. Vineyard's knee is Woolslayer's 8-year-old daughter, Georgia Ann, who stayed up long past her bedtime to take part in the fun. Allegheny-Ludlum Steel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." View full size. Medium format negative by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information.
May 1, 1908. "Speedway parade. Louis Frank with trotter 'Strange Leaf,' a prize winner." View full size. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection.
"Arlington Beach Park, 1925." At left is the Yocum canoe house. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size.
"Bathing beach." Circa 1923, a faded view of fun on one of the long-gone Potomac bathing beaches of Washington, D.C. View full size. National Photo Company.
August 1942. "A poster comes to life. Another democratic institution, beer and pretzels. Chief radioman Evans, at extreme left, reaches for a slice of the ham which Mrs. Woolslayer is serving. Sergeant Vineyard is wearing the paper hat. Allegheny Steel, Pittsburgh." One in a series of dozens of photos taken of the three men in a WW2 poster after they decided to get together. View full size. Medium format negative by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information.
July 1942. Ford plant at Willow Run, Michigan. "Steady of eye and hand, women workers at the great Willow Run bomber plant are among those throughout the country who are relieving serious shortages of skilled workers by doing such semi-skilled jobs as the one here. She's welding parts of the cooling system direct to the supercharger." View full size. Medium format negative by Ann Rosener.
May 1939. "Booth in hamburger stand. Alpine, Texas." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration.
"Yocum canoe house, Arlington Beach Park, Virginia, 1925." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress.