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]
Vintage photos of:
November 1912. Providence, Rhode Island. "Privies and clothesline, 70 Borden Street. For child welfare exhibit." View full size. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine.
1861. "A pro-Union patriotic print based on Frederic Edwin Church's oil painting 'Our Banner in the Sky,' which in turn was inspired by the highly publicized Confederate insult to the flag at Fort Sumter in April 1861 and by a sermon by Henry Ward Beecher published shortly thereafter. The print shows a lone Zouave sentry watching from a promontory as the dawn breaks, his rifle and bayonet forming the staff of an American flag formed by the sky's light. In the distance is a fort, probably Sumter." Lithograph by Sarony, Major & Knapp. View full size.
July 1938. Ashville, Ohio. "Wrestling matches at the Fourth of July celebration." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn for the FSA.
1958. My dog Missie catches the eye of a passing cheerleader at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California, the year it opened. Notable alumni in addition to your humble correspondent (Class of '64) include Robin Williams and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. My brother's Ektachrome slide. View full size.
May 1910. St. Louis, Missouri. "Boy named Gurley. An eight year old newsie. 18th & Washington Streets." View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine.