Snapshots of the Past

New York, N.Y., Summer 1938 – Historic Print

New York, N.Y., Summer 1938, 1938 — historic photograph
New York, N.Y., Summer 1938, 1938. Historic photograph from the New York City collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

A window into the past: New York, N.Y., Summer 1938, preserved in this historic photograph. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

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New York, N.Y., Summer 1938

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Few places in 1938 New York were as open to the city's displaced as its movie palaces, and this summer view of a theater interior, part of the Farm Security Administration's documentary work, shows why. Many houses near Times Square and the Bowery sold cheap, all-night admission, so men with no place to sleep could sit in the dark through the late hours. The Depression had left many people without homes or steady work, and photographers working for the federal government recorded such scenes to show the era's hardship to the public and to lawmakers.

Created / published1938
Medium1 photographic print.
GenrePhotographic prints 1930-1940.
NotesFarm Security Administration and Office of War Information Collection (Library of Congress). No. 15749-E.
SubjectsMotion picture theaters--New York (State)--New York--1930-1940. Homeless persons--New York (State)--New York--1930-1940.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,422 px · prints to 5 × 5 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-162472

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