Archives for November 26, 2014

William Gaynor family, Fairfield, Vermont

John Vachon caption: Mr. and Mrs. William Gaynor, FSA (Farm Security Administration) dairy farmers, near Fairfield, Vermont, September 1941. Jack Delano caption: The Gaynor family at dinner on their farm. Fairfield, Vermont, September 1941. There are 67 photos of this … [Read more...]

Albert Lynch family, Dummerston, Vermont

There are nine photos of this family on the Library of Congress website. Many of the family members still reside in Vermont. They have copies of the photos, having discovered them only several years ago. One of the sons in the family still lives in the same farmhouse where he was … [Read more...]

Western Massachusetts Scenes

I drive to North Adams from Florence, Massachusetts at least once a week. I nearly always take Route 9, west to Windsor, make a right on Route 8A, then a left four miles later on Route 116. Several miles west on 116, I make a right on Stewart White Road, which crosses through the … [Read more...]

Turner Falls, Massachusetts

Turners Falls is another little gem of a mill town. It's actually a village in the town of Montague. When I was taking pictures of the International Paper mill along the canal, I was told to leave by a security guard. I convinced him to give me five more minutes. He asked why I … [Read more...]

Much More Than Meets The Ear (2007)

Knowing my penchant for hyperbole, my best friend is fond of saying, "I've told you a million times not to exaggerate." Well, here I go again. Andre Previn may be the greatest all-around musician since the advent of recorded music. Born in Berlin in 1929, he escaped Nazi … [Read more...]

Mill In Ware, Massachusetts

There are several mill outlet stores in Ware, and one day while my wife was shopping, I took a walk around with my camera. This is what I discovered. I was back again five years later, and I couldn't resist taking a few more photos while my wife was shopping. The … [Read more...]

Joe Beafore, Fairmont, West Virginia

Lewis Hine caption: Monongah Glass Co., Fairmont, W. Va. Jo Before a glass wks boy going home, 5 P.M. He says he is 12 years old, and has been at it one year: is a "ketchin-up-boy" $.70 a day: says glass business is all right. Asked if he was going to be a glassblower when he … [Read more...]

Haydenville, Massachusetts

Haydenville is a tiny village along the Mill River, in the town of Williamsburg, just northwest of Northampton, Massachusetts. In the mid-1800s, many factories were built here, and reservoirs were placed upstream to store water sufficient to power the mills in the summer. In … [Read more...]

Northampton State Hospital, Northampton, Massachusetts

The Northampton State Hospital in Northampton, Massachusetts, was considered almost a utopian solution to mental health treatment in the middle of the 19th century. In the 1980s, with the quality of care declining rapidly, and the movement to mainstream mentally ill persons into … [Read more...]

Bellows Falls, Vermont

The village of Bellows Falls is part of the town of Rockingham. It's bordered on the east by a canal, then the railroad tracks, then the Connecticut River, and finally a high mountain. The trains go through a small tunnel right under the main drag. The tiny downtown is as lovely … [Read more...]

Clarinda Morin, Winchendon, Massachusetts

Lewis Hine caption: Clerinda Norrin, said 11 years old and helps sister spin in Glenallen Mill. Winchendon, Mass. September 3, 1911. On my first trip to Winchendon, on September 24, 2008, I brought along my camera and a binder with all 40 of Hine's photos and captions. This … [Read more...]

Kirkpatrick Family, Lawton, Oklahoma

Lewis Hine caption: Family of L.H. Kirkpatrick, Route 1, Lawton, Oklahoma. Children go to Mineral Wells School #39. Father, mother and five children (5, 6, 10, 11 and 12 years old) pick cotton. "We pick a bale in four days." Dovey, 5 years old, picks 15 pounds a day (average) … [Read more...]

John and Rose Marie Garavaglia, Bush, Illinois

Arthur Rothstein caption: Coal miner and daughter. Bush, Illinois, Jan 1939. Arthur Rothstein was one of the Farm Security Administration photographers. He was born in New York in 1915, and had been a student of Roy Stryker at Columbia University in the early 1930s. Stryker … [Read more...]

Camille & Joseph Salvia, New York, NY

Lewis Hine caption: 143 Hudson St., ground floor. Mrs. Salvia; Joe, 10 years old; Josephine, 14 years old; Camille, 7 years old. Picking nuts in a dirty tenement home. The bag of cracked nuts (on chair) had been standing open all day waiting for the children to get home from … [Read more...]

Daniel Collins, Eastport, Maine

Lewis Hine caption: Three young cutters who work in the Seacoast Canning Co., Factory #4, Eastport, Me. They work at night when the rush is on. Youngest is Rob Collins, 10 years old; next is Dan Collins, 11 years; next is Milton Shannon. All live on South Clark Street. Location: … [Read more...]

Gershwin And Berlin Never Sounded Better (2007)

"They all laughed at Christopher Columbus/When he said the world was round/They all laughed when Edison recorded sound." -from "They All Laughed," by George and Ira Gershwin I am playing, for the umpteenth time, a CD that I bought several weeks ago. The singer opens track … [Read more...]

Bessie Hicks, Matoaca, Virginia

Lewis Hine caption: A Suggestion for Dependent Widows. Mrs. Bessie Hicks, a widow in the mill settlement at Matoaca, Va. She has no children large enough for the cotton mill, so she is starting a little store in her home. Location: Matoaca, Virginia, June 1911. Bessie Hicks … [Read more...]

Arthur Chalifoux, North Adams, Massachusetts

Lewis Hine caption: Arthur Chalifoux, 3 Rand St. (4th boy from left). Works in Eclipse Mills, No. Adams. Location: North Adams, Massachusetts, 1911. "Three girls fainted in the Eclipse mill yesterday as a result of the extreme heat. The long continued hot spell is beginning to … [Read more...]

Young @ Heart (2007)

My wife and I moved to the small city of Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1999. It's on the Connecticut River, about 100 miles west of Boston. We actually live in Florence, a distinct village with its own post office. But when we get our property tax bill, it's from … [Read more...]

Alcide Gauthier, Winchendon, Massachusetts

Lewis Hine caption: Erenne La Prise, on left, apparently 13 years old, a doffer at Spring Village Mill, said he had been working a year and a half. Als de Gauthier, apparently under 14 (next Erenne) also a doffer at Spring Village Mill. Location: Winchendon, Massachusetts, … [Read more...]