Washington, D.C., circa 1915. The Department of Justice building at 1435 K Street N.W. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.

October 1942. "Rita Rodriguez. Production of B-24 bombers and C-87 transports at Consolidated Aircraft, Fort Worth, Texas." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem for the Office of War Information. View full size.

The buildings on the left were razed in the 80s for a ghastly development called “City Center,” which wasn’t as imaginative as its name. The retail portion struggled for decades to fail, and finally succeeded. The sliver of white stone on the right was Donaldson’s, a department store that eventually moved into City Center, where it the brand died in a merger. (The old building was demolished for an attractive Cesar Pelli-designed retail / office complex.) Down the street on the right, it’s the Syndicate Building, later the home of Penney’s. (It was torn down for a retail / office complex.) In the distance, the pointy tower of the remarkably ungainly Minnesota Loan and Trust Building, a 49-foot-wide building that stood until 1920 before it was clawed down for a new Woolworth's.

Everything here is gone except for the light-colored building in the middle. It still bears its original name: Andrus. It’s an office complex. No retail. View full size.

December 31, 1956 (or January 1, 1957). A party my brother, then 19, went to. Other than recognizing a couple family friends, that's all I know about this Ektachrome slide. View full size.

January 1912. New Bedford, Massachusetts. "Manuel Soares, 175 Coggeshall Street, works in Bennett Mill. Sweeps in No. 4 spinning room, has been there one year." Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.

Circa 1963. I'm not sure what's worse: that my brother is in the front seat or the metal baby seat itself, hooked to the seatback of the car. View full size.

June 1, 1918. Katherine Stinson, "the flying schoolgirl," and her plane at Sheepshead Bay Speedway in Brooklyn after completing a flight from Chicago. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.

New York City circa 1918. "Start of cripples' one-legged race." 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress. View full size.