Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Many were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by your webmaster for contrast and color in Photoshop before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.

February 1936. "Narrow street in New Brunswick, New Jersey." View full size. 3¼x4¼ nitrate negative by Carl Mydans for the Farm Security Administration.
The men appear to be chipping away and removing compressed snow and ice from the cobblestones. Note the pile of picks and shovels lying in front of the lumber company, possibly for volunteers to use. Interestingly, a coat hanging in the centre right of the picture appears to be hanging from a faint white line which traverses the picture, and is more visible under magnification.
[That's a scratch in the emulsion. - Dave]

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