This past year a researcher called to our attention a series of photographs of children posing with bicycles in the National Photo Company Collection. Below is one of the images, which came to the Library with a somewhat mysterious title: “Times girl on bicycle.” Times girl on bicycle. Photo by National Photo Company, between 1921 and 1924. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.22067 Documentation obtained by the researcher through the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America historical newspaper database provides a fuller picture. The August 8, 1921 issue of The Washington Times reveals that the girl in the image is Theresa Ebert of Cherrydale, Virginia, and that she had earned the bicycle in a contest sponsored by the newspaper by convincing 35 people to purchase an…
Category: Picture this
Documenting Historic American Landscapes – Challenge Accepted!
The following is a guest post by Ryan Brubacher, Reference Librarian, Prints & Photographs Division. In late November, the winners of the 2021 HALS Challenge were announced. The announcement offers a good opportunity to highlight the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) collection, including the historical reports found within this collection, as well as the National Park Service’s annual challenge to create short format histories to be added to the collection. Ala Moana Park (Hawaii) - HALS HI-21 – a man-made landscape with a lively history of public use and development over its nearly 100 year history. 2014 Challenge: Documenting Landscapes of the New Deal – Entry. 5. Banyan Courtyard at McCoy Pavilion: Overall view of banyan courtyard. View facing southeast. –…
Ready for Research: Contemporary Photography Donated by the Annenberg Foundation
The following is a guest post by Aliza Leventhal, Head, Technical Services, Prints & Photographs Division. When the Annenberg Space for Photography closed in June 2020, they offered the Library of Congress more than 900 high quality prints from ten of their exhibitions. We responded enthusiastically to this rare opportunity to add work by 329 contemporary photographers to the collections. In a year when we organized and described 350,000 items using the standard archival description and housing techniques that work well for large collections, we also rose to the challenge of providing intensive, special attention for what is now the Annenberg Space for Photography Collection of Exhibition Prints. To provide the public with a way to experience the timely subject…
Through the Eyes of an Angel: New York Photos by Anthony Angel
Anthony Angel, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front. Photo by Angelo Rizzuto, between 1949 and 1967. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.70820 Earlier this year, the Anthony Angel Collection became available for research. The collection contains around 60,000 black-and-white photographs of New York City, chiefly Manhattan, taken between 1949 and 1967. Angel was born Angelo A. Rizzuto (1906-1967) and listed in the 1910 U.S. Census as Angelino Rizzuto, as Tony Rizzuto in 1920, and as Angelo A. Rizzuto in 1930 and 1940. When Rizzuto bequeathed his work to the Library in 1967 he wanted it to be known as The Anthony Angel Collection, with Anthony Angel being an “Americanization” of Angelo Antonio. Settling in New York City after growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, Angel spent many years…