In this episode of the Becoming Barnum podcast, P.T. Barnum was worried about his employees at the American Museum in New York City. He wanted museum taxidermist Emile Guillaudeu to create a pose for a pony’s skin that suggested motion with dignity and speed, but it is uncertain if he was successful. [Read more…] about Becoming Barnum: Taxidermy & The Physioscope
Photography
Weegee the Famous: Paparazzo of the Nameless
The term paparazzo and its plural form paparazzi were first used in English in a Time magazine article dated April 14th, 1961, entitled “Paparazzi on the Prowl.” The piece put the spotlight on a new type of photographer that was giving Rome’s elegant district around Via Veneto an unpleasant reputation. [Read more…] about Weegee the Famous: Paparazzo of the Nameless
State Parks, DEC Announce 2022 Photo Contest Winners
New York State Office of Parks and Recreation and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has announced the grand prize winner and the category winners of the 2022 Photo Contest. More than 6,000 photographs were received, depicting the beauty of New York State’s outdoors. [Read more…] about State Parks, DEC Announce 2022 Photo Contest Winners
Sadakichi Hartmann: A German-Asian-American Artist’s Struggle for Identity
In response to the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the founding of a new federal agency, the War Relocation Authority (WRA), which began forcibly removing Japanese Americans from the West Coast and relocate them to isolated inland areas. Around 120,000 people were detained in remote camps for the remainder of the Second World War. [Read more…] about Sadakichi Hartmann: A German-Asian-American Artist’s Struggle for Identity
Hudson River Steamboat Images Go Online
The newest collection of Hudson River Maritime Museum material on the New York Heritage website are steamboat images from the Tracey Irving Brooks photograph collection.
Tracey Irving Brooks was a professional quality photographer based in the Capitol Region of New York State. Born in 1888, Brooks photographed Hudson River steamboats during the first half of the 1900s. The collection covers an extensive variety of steamboats on the upper portion of the Hudson River. [Read more…] about Hudson River Steamboat Images Go Online
Artists Reflect On the Impact of Great Migration in New Exhibit
Between 1915 and 1970, in the wake of racial terror during the post-Reconstruction period, millions of Black Americans fled from their homes to other areas within the South and to other parts of the country. This movement of people caused a radical shift in the demographic, economic, and sociopolitical makeup of the United States.
For instance, New York City — and particularly Manhattan — became home to hundreds of thousands of Black Americans during this time, catalyzing the start of the artistic and cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. [Read more…] about Artists Reflect On the Impact of Great Migration in New Exhibit
Never Before Seen Kristallnacht Photos Shine Light On Fascism
A recently discovered photo album donated to Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, includes rare, never-before-seen photos of “Kristallnacht,” on the night of November 9, 1938.
During that night Nazis and their supporters ransacked and demolished Jewish homes, hospitals and schools; destroyed 267 synagogues; damaged or destroyed more than 7,000 Jewish businesses; and arrested and sent to concentration camps some 30,000 Jewish men. [Read more…] about Never Before Seen Kristallnacht Photos Shine Light On Fascism
Documentary: The Great American Novel, Truman Capote & Che Guevara
In 1868, just a few years after the end of the Civil War, novelist John William De Forest published an essay in The Nation, a political magazine that had been founded in July 1865 in Nassau Street, Manhattan. His contribution was titled “The Great American Novel.” [Read more…] about Documentary: The Great American Novel, Truman Capote & Che Guevara
Who Owns A Photo Of Your Face? A Rochester Teenager & Privacy Rights
In the 1890s, Rochester teenager Abigail Roberson was surprised to learn that a portrait she had taken at a local photographic studio was being used on 25,000 lithographic posters created by the Rochester Folding-Box Company to advertise Franklin Mills flour, without her prior knowledge or consent.
The poster, reading “Flour of the Family,” was distributed to stores, warehouses, saloons, and other places around Rochester, NY where her face was recognized by those she knew. Feeling humiliated by scoffing and jeering from her acquaintances she suffered a breakdown, and was confined her to bed under the treatment of a physician. [Read more…] about Who Owns A Photo Of Your Face? A Rochester Teenager & Privacy Rights
Erie Canalway Photo Contest Winners Announced
The Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor has announced the winners of the 17th Annual Erie Canalway Photo Contest.
Judges selected winning photos in four contest categories, along with 12 honorable mentions. Winners hail from across the Canalway Corridor. [Read more…] about Erie Canalway Photo Contest Winners Announced