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Archive: 2012 (57 Posts)

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

P&P Snapshot: A Look at On Site Research

Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson

Our online collections support many a research project, but contact with physical photographs and graphic items can be eye-opening and reveal new avenues for investigation. Kya Mangrum, a doctoral candidate in English Language and Literature at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, recently spent several days in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room exploring images of …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

“The Duke” of the Longboard

Posted by: Jeff Bridgers

A native Hawaiian, Duke Kahanamoku grew up with a love of water sports. "The Duke" became an overnight worldwide sensation when he broke the Olympic record for the 100-meter swim dash at the 1912 Stockholm games. Kahanamoku’s place in the international spotlight is evidenced by the two photographs featured today: one by world-traveler Frank G. …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

75 Years & Counting: The Golden Gate Bridge

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

Photographing the Golden Gate Bridge is a challenge on many levels – quite literally!  Nearly 9,000 feet in length, and rising almost 800 feet into the air, it doesn’t pose easily for the camera. I can only assume from looking at the images of the Golden Gate Bridge in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Brown v. Board of Education: Getting the Picture One Year Later

Posted by: Jeff Bridgers

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, declaring that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” This decision was pivotal to the struggle for racial desegregation in the United States. A year later, in May 1955, Thomas O’Halloran, on assignment for U.S. News & …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

A May Day Pageant

Posted by: Jeff Bridgers

In May 1941, Farm Security Administration (FSA) photographer Jack Delano captured the May Day Pageant in Siloam, a small town in Greene County, Georgia. Today, I feature two photographs of the day’s events. First, above, is a procession of girls dancing in fancy costumes, looking like a group of flitting butterflies. The second image, below, …