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Description
The extensive photograph collections at the New-York Historical Society are particularly strong in portraits and documentary images of New York-area buildings and street scenes from 1839 to 1945, although contemporary photography continues to be collected. This collection presents over 100,000 photographic prints and negatives depicting New York City and other locations from the late nineteenth century through the twentieth century.
NYHS Identifier
Library Collection
Owning Institution
Publisher
Subject (Geographic)
Contributor
Date Created
1853 to 2009
Subcollections
44 subcollections
Photographs by Worsinger Photo (or Worsinger Window Service), Nick Malan Studio and Freedman Photo of window and store displays at Oppenheim Collins, Bonwit Teller, and De Pinna; includes World War II images with the motto "Bomb Tokyo"; primarily advertising clothing, also included are advertisements for cosmetics.
Collection of 133 silver gelatin photographs of Manhattan, approximately 1938 to 1960, taken by amateur photographer Arthur W. Grumbine. Part of the collection consists of street scenes and views of individual buildings taken in various neighborhoods around the city from the 1930s through the 1960s, and include images of street vendors, construction sites, signs and storefronts, building interiors, aerial and riverfront views, Times Square,…
This collection consists of 24 glass plate negatives of Pollepel (Bannerman) Island and the estate Francis Bannerman VI (1851-1918) built there. Following the Civil War, Bannerman founded a company, Francis Bannerman Co., specializing in military surplus and scrap. In 1900 he purchased Pollepel Island, a small island located in the Hudson River just north of West Point, N.Y., with the aim to turn it into a safe storage location for his large…
This collection consists of 91 photographs by famed New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham of his friend, neighbor, and fellow photographer Editta Sherman posing in period costumes in front of New York City buildings matching the same era as her clothing. Cunningham and Sherman scoured antique shops, street fairs, and auctions for period clothing, and conducted painstaking research to identify appropriate matching buildings. The…
The collection contains 403 photographic negatives produced circa 1920-1980 (bulk 1920-1950) by commercial photographers on behalf of The Boys' Club of New York ("BCNY"). The majority depict young BCNY members engaged in a variety of activities, either at the club's Tompkins Square Building (later renamed Harriman Clubhouse) or at the William Carey Camp in Jamesport, New York. Many of the photographs were published in annual reports, where they…
The Browning Photograph Collection contains photographs produced primarily in the 1920s and 1930s by Irving Browning and his commercial photography firm in and around New York City. The varied subject matter, which includes street life during the Great Depression and the construction of Art Deco skyscrapers, reflects the social and economic realities of the time period while also showcasing Browning's technical and aesthetic brilliance.
The Burr McIntosh Photograph Collection consists of 596 glass plate negatives and 3,822 photographic prints dating from 1898 to 1910. Burr McIntosh (1862-1942) distinguished himself in many careers, including those of actor, reporter, publisher, lecturer, cinematographer, and radio pioneer, as well as photographer. While many of these endeavors were short-lived, they gained him prestige and popularity among the stylish set, including…
The collection of Civil War stereographs from the New-York Historical Society's Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections covers the entire period of the Civil War, from the first Battle of Bull Run through the surrender at Appomattox, and the triumphal parade of Union forces in Washington D.C. Most of the images were made in the eastern theatre of the war, with a majority of scenes from Virginia. Compelling images of…
The 904 glass plate and film negatives in this collection were taken by Drucker & Baltes for the General Outdoor Advertising Company, a billboard company that was formed in 1925 through the merger of the Fulton Group and Thomas Cusack Company. The photographs record the advertisers who bought billboard space at thirteen sites in Manhattan and two sites in the Bronx. The views focus on signs but also show surrounding buildings, elevated…
360-degree panorama of San Francisco in 13 panels photographed from the roof of the Mark Hopkins residence on Nob Hill by Eadweard Muybridge in 1878. The views in this panorama are from the same perspective as those in a smaller-sized 11-panel panorama issued in 1877, but the appearance of some of the buildings confirms that they were photographed the following year. Muybridge's panorama was purchased for the New-York Historical Society by…
The collection consists of 212 negatives (most film and some glass). Among the 20 negatives from around 1925 are views of Times Square at night and Walter Chrysler's home. Almost 80 negatives record the 1938 Eagle Pencil Company strike. Other assignments from the 1930s include the Housewrecker's Union strike, a women's tennis tournament, movie theater marquees, radio opera broadcasts sponsored by General Motors, and Jimmy Durante as Santa Claus…
Collection of 62 photographs of New York City storefronts, street vendors, and restaurants primarily from the late 1990s.
The collection contains 61 glass negatives of buildings, parks, events and portraits in New York City and state. Also included are three albumen prints of the steamboat Harlem and an unidentified residence. The collection was donated by Elizabeth Ransom to the New-York Historical Society, but other than her name, nothing else is known about her or her connection to the negatives. The photographer is unidentified.
The Eugene Gordon Photograph Collection contains black and white gelatin silver prints of street life, religious groups, buildings, and public events of New York City. The photographs show New Yorkers going about their lives in a vibrant city. Gordons attention to detail, and to the changing face of the citys population and streetscape, is evident in images showing ethnic neighborhoods in Queens. The largest groupings of photographs are of Times…
Eugene L. Armbruster (1865:-1943) was born in Baden-Baden, Germany, and came to the United States in 1882. His first job was with H. Henkel Cigar Box Manufacturing Company, where he continued to work until his retirement in 1920. He lived in Bushwick, Brooklyn, with his wife and two children, Julia and Eugene Jr. Armbruster took photographs beginning in the late 19th century, but the majority of his work is from the 1910s and 1920s. Around the…
The Frank M. Ingalls Photograph Collection includes 1,611 photographic prints and negatives of New York City and vicinity. Frank M. Ingalls (1862-1956) wrote that he always carried a small camera with him, even when it rained, to be sure he never missed an unexpected opportunity. The collection includes photographs taken around lower Manhattan and Queens. The majority of the views are of skyscraper and building construction and street scenes…
The Frederick Kelly Photograph Collection spans the period from 1959 to 1976 and contains 250 black and white silver gelatin photographs, primarily taken in New York City. Frederick Kelly (1905-1999) lived in Baltimore, MD, where he worked as a librarian and an educator. His interests included photography, and he enjoyed traveling to New York City in his later years to photograph the vibrant city's buildings and people. Kelly appears to have…
4,670 images by George Ehler Stonebridge (d. 1941), an amateur photographer who lived and worked in the Bronx, New York. The photographs document both everyday life and special events such as parades, from the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning decades of the twentieth century. The collection includes views of Manhattan sights as wells as Bronx parks, the Croton Dam strike, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the funeral of General Franz…
The George P. Hall & Son collection consists of 1,649 photographic prints and negatives. The large-format views provide clear, extremely detailed and flattering depictions of a variety of subjects, including Manhattan's early skyscrapers, hotels and theater exteriors, harbor activity, and downtown streets, as well as Brooklyn business areas and resorts. George P. Hall & Son photographed the Battery skyline repeatedly from the 1880s…
George R. Fardon (1806-1886) was an English photographer who operated in San Francisco, CA and Victoria, BC. The album consists of thirty images of San Francisco in 1856, published as a portfolio by Herre & Bauer. The San Francisco album is considered the first published compilation of photographs of any American city and the major work of Fardon's career. This is one of ten known variant copies.
H.N. Tiemann (1863-1957) was the proprietor of a Manhattan-based commercial photography company, H.N Tiemann & Co., which photographed New York locations and events for publication and general sale. This collection of black and white negatives, circa 1880-1916, documents Manhattan buildings, bridges, churches, hotels, civic celebrations, and fashionable street scenes. Among heavily represented subjects are views of the 1909 Hudson-Fulton…
The collection consists of 25 gelatin silver photographic prints, 11 x 14 inches, by photographer Harold Roth, capturing New York street life between 1937 and 1950. The photographs show Roth's attention to light and composition, and range from a group of children playing in the spray of an open fire hydrant in the waning sunlight to a view of foot traffic in Madison Square Park against the hazy backdrop of the Flatiron Building. Other views…
The Harris Pierce Photograph Collection spans the period from 1888 to 1900 and contains 300 gelatin silver photographs of residences and businesses during the grading and improvement of streets in the Bronx. Little is known about Harris Pierce, but his stamp appears on the verso of the photographs and gives his address as 1921 Oostdorp Ave and his profession as 'Photographer'. Trow's New York City Directory lists his profession from 1883-1908 as…
2,130 photographs, including glass plate negatives, cellulose nitrate negatives, and prints, produced by Fritz E. Bjorkman and most likely collected by Herman Blumenthal for visual research. The photographs depict a large number of places, including New York, Ohio, Maryland, Florida, California, the U.S. Southwest, and Mexico. One particular focus of the collection is parades, including photographs of an Armistice Day parade, a Liberty Day…
The extensive photograph collections in the New-York Historical Society Library's Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections are particularly strong in portraits and documentary images of New York-area buildings and street scenes from 1839 to 1945, although contemporary photography continues to be collected. Both professional and amateur photographers (many unidentified) are represented. The selection of 50 images in this…
Collection of 108 photographs taken circa 1890-1899: by J.S Johnston, a New York City based marine and scenic photographer, including original glass negatives and modern gelatin silver photographic prints. The photographs are pleasant depictions of New York City landmarks, as well as Niagara Falls, Boston, the Hudson River valley, Puerto Rico, Montreal, and Quebec. There are also some images of shipping, and of Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody) and…
The James Reuel Smith Springs and Wells Photograph Collection includes 852 glass negatives, acetate negatives, and photographic prints relating to his book "Springs and Wells of Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City, at the End of the Nineteenth Century" published by the New-York Historical Society in 1938. Smith was born in 1852 in Skaneateles, New York. Family money enabled him to actively pursue his hobby of photographing and…
The Jessie Tarbox Beals Collection contains 420 black and white photographs, circa 1900-1940, primarily of New York City and its inhabitants. It also includes postcards, as well as larger prints, of bohemian Greenwich Village between 1905 and 1920. Jessie Tarbox Beals (1870-1942), a school teacher who taught herself photography, joined the Buffalo Courier staff in 1902 and became known as the first woman press photographer. She moved to New York…
This collection consists of 43 photographs, mounted on 44 loose album pages of gray paper (one photograph is missing), of New York City newsboys (or "newsies"), probably taken by Lewis Hine for the National Child Labor Committee circa 1908-1912. All photographs are captioned with the subject's name, age, address, school, whether they had a badge or not, and the location of the photograph.
The Lower East Side Photograph Collection spans the period from March to June 1901 and contains 63 gelatin silver photographs of buildings, on and around Delancey Street, before they were demolished during construction of the Williamsburg Bridge. The photographs show the markets, shops, saloons, and other businesses in the area; signs for many of these are in Yiddish. The images also capture the residents of the neighborhood, including several…
This collection of 41 negatives depicts New York subway tunnels under construction. The majority of the glass negatives bear dates from 1901 through 1902, just after the city awarded a subway construction contract in 1900. These negatives show work being done at unknown locations along the subway's earliest route in Manhattan, which ran from City Hall to 42nd Street on the East Side, then west along 42nd Street to Times Square, and north along…
This digital collection includes 3,417 cellulose nitrate photographic negatives from the Norvin H. Green Collection of Elevated Railroad Photographs. Norvin Hewitt Green (1894-1955) was a business executive, civic leader, railroad enthusiast, and trustee of The New-York Historical Society who compiled a photographic record of New York elevated railroads that focuses on the dismantling of most of the lines between 1939 and 1941, hiring the…
This digital collection presents one photograph album held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and six photograph albums held by the New-York Historical Society. The photographs are of the design and construction of Fort Tryon Park by the Olmsted Brothers firm and date from 1930 to 1935. The albums have black covers and black-and-white or sepia-colored photographs mounted on grey paper. Printed labels on the cover of the albums have text: "Olmsted…
Album of 77 albumen photographic prints taken from 1861 to 1865 and printed later. Images include Navy ships and sailors during the blockade of southern ports; army camps; Edisto Island, South Carolina; plantations and African Americans; Fort Warren, Massachusetts; and Andersonville Prison, Georgia. Many of the Edisto Island photographs were taken by Henry P. Moore of New Hampshire. This album is volume 20 from a 31 volume set of photograph…
Robert Louis Bracklow (1849-1919) was an amateur photographer and stationer. He was an active member of the Society of Amateur Photographers of New York (later the Camera Club), where he exhibited photographs with fellow amateur Richard H. Lawrence and with Alfred Stieglitz. This digital collection includes 2,084 glass plate negatives from the New-York Historical Society's Robert L. Bracklow Photograph Collection, which contains images of New…
The New-York Historical Society's Subway Construction Photograph Collection, 1900-1950, includes over 71,000 photographs taken by various New York City transportation agencies during the construction of the New York City subways. The Board of Rapid Transit, the Public Service Commission, and their successors photographed construction of the subway and its surface extensions in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens in a succession of…
Victor Prevost (1820-1881) was born in France and studied art before moving to California in 1847 and to New York in 1850. On a visit back to France in 1853, he learned Gustave Le Gray's calotype process, which was based on the process developed by William Henry Fox Talbot and employed sensitized waxed paper to make photographic negatives. When he returned to New York, Prevost opened a photography studio. The Victor Prevost photograph collection…
William Davis Hassler (1877-1921) worked as a commercial photographer in New York City from 1909 to his death in 1921. He shot a wide range of subjects for a variety of clients, from magazines to construction companies, postal card publishers, and private commissions. Regular work came from the real estate auction house Joseph P. Day, for whom Hassler documented properties all over the five boroughs of New York City as well as Westchester County…
This collection of 476 photographs by William J. Roege (1893-1970) includes film and glass plate negatives taken between 1910 and 1937, and contact prints made between 1968 and 1970 by Klein Brothers Studio, New York, from oversize glass negatives. The collection consists primarily of views of popular New York City buildings, streets, and businesses produced by Roege while he was employed by commercial photography firms, including American…
This collection on women in sports history, including items from the Billie Jean King collection, was created for Education audiences at the New-York Historical Society.
