Search results

Title: "Dar boss, how's dat?"
Description: Racist, satiric genre scene staged in a cargo hold setting. In the left, shows a well-dressed white man attired in a floor-length overcoat and bowler hat with valises at his side. He stands and watches an African American worker, attired in a cap and overalls, who secures the man's trunk with rope and his foot. Clothes hang out of and lie in front of the trunk. Stacks of trunks and valises line the wall in the background., Title from label on negative., Buff mount with rounded corners., Distributor's imprint stamped on verso: Robert Miller, 1110 W. Nor'W St., Gift of George R. Allen, 2013., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., The Standard Series of New York was a producer of pirated views during the 1890s.
Date: [ca. 1895]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - unidentified - Genre [P.2013.65.14]

Title: [Working plaster sculpture of D.C. French and E.C. Potter Columbian Exposition statue of African American teamster with work horse]
Description: View of the sculpture designed by renown sculptors Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter for the Court of Honor lagoon at the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. The African American man teamster, attired in a sleeveless shirt, his muscular arms exposed, and pants cinched at the waist and ankles with rope, stands by the front leg of his draught horse. His legs slightly apart, his left hand behind his back, the laborer rests his right elbow on the shoulder of the yoked and harnessed animal. The statuary, the base marked "E.C. Potter" and "D.C. French, Sc.," stands before a drop cloth, probably within French's studio in Enfield, Massachusetts., Title supplied by cataloger., French, a renowned sculptor of several federal commissioned pieces including the Lincoln Memorial, collaborated with Potter, his former student and respected equestrian sculptor, on several sculpted works including the Court of Honor statuary at the Columbian Exposition and the statue of General Grant in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park., McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Arnold, C. D. (Charles Dudley), 1844-1927, photographer
Date: 1892
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Arnold [5785.F.61b]

Title: Uncle Ned's school
Description: View, photographed with a black background, showing a small narrative plaster after the John Rogers' bronze sculpture patented in 1866. Sculpture is comprised of the figure of an African American girl, an older African American cobbler, an African American boy, and a ramshackle cabinet. All the figures are barefoot. In the left, the young female charge of the cobbler stands, holds a book, and points to a page that she has been reading. In the center, the cobbler, his hair receded, leans over, and looks at the book as he has one leg swung over a rickety cabinet and the other behind it. He holds a shoe buffer in his right hand that rests on the book and a boot over his left hand and forearm that rests on his hip. A second boot stands at the base of the cabinet near the girl's feet. In the right, the cobbler's male charge reclines next to the cabinet. He has his left hand behind him and his left leg outstretched, as his right hand touches the base of the foot of the hanging leg of the cobbler. An open book rests in the boy's lap. The girl is attired in a straight neck, off-the-shoulder dress that is cinched at the waist. The cobbler wears rolled-up shirt sleeves, pants, and an apron at his waist. The boy wears shirt sleeves and pants with a hole at the knee. Rogers' original sculpture "Uncle Ned's School" was exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1866. Rogers mass produced and sold tens of thousands of plaster sculptures after his bronzes 1859-1893., Title from title carved in base of depicted sculpture., Date inferred from style of mount and 1866 patent of sculpture., Yellow mount with rounded corners., John Rogers (1829-1904), a New York sculptor and artist, specialized in sculpted narrative group scenes beginning in the late 1850s. He established a workshop for the mass production of his sculptures at affordable prices that were marketed as "Rogers' Groups." Rogers retired in 1893., Gift of David Long., RVCDC, Description and access points reviewed 2022.
Date: [ca. 1868]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - unid. photo. - Monuments and Statues [P.2018.16.12]

Title: Portable type 'G' stone loader, Field, Barker & Underwood, Philmont, Pa
Description: Product advertisement, probably from a trade portfolio, showing a group of laborers, including an African American man, utilizing a Belt-Link portable type "D" stone loader in a cleared field. In the left, the white man stands behind a wheelbarrow filled with stone. In the center, a man digs with a shovel, another man tilts a wheelbarrow, and three other men stand and look on., Title and date from typewritten text on recto., Title altered in manuscript: Portable type "D" stone loader, Field, Barker & Underwood, Philmont, Pa., Typewritten on recto: 3 HP Ideal gasoline engine, SS825 chain with 14 x 7 M.I. AA buckets, having manganese steel digging prongs. Provided with extra chute and cutoff gate for delivering to wheel Barrows. (1913), Inscribed in negative: 6462., Purchase 1990., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: 1913
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Link-Belt [P.9285.7]

Title: [Philadelphia Bourse construction]
Description: View of an early stage of the construction of the Philadelphia Bourse at 11-21 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia. Depicts construction workers, including African Americans, standing at the center of the steel frame on a scaffolding surrounded by masonry tools and supplies. Existing business and residences surround the construction site. Designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm, George and William Hewitt, the Bourse was completed after 2 years of construction in 1895. It was one of the first modern U.S. commerce centers and stock exchanges., Title supplied by cataloger., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., Stamped on verso: No. of negative 491., Date from manuscript written note on mount: Mar. 2nd 1894., Forms part of a series of ten Philadelphia Bourse construction photographs., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1992, p. 50-51., Purchase 1992., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Miller, Chas. (Charles H.), photographer
Date: March 2, 1894
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Miller [P.9381.2]

Title: [714-716 N. 10th Street, Philadelphia]
Description: Real estate photograph commissioned by the Jackson-Cross Company depicting several African American laborers working in a coal, ice, and scrap lot for sale by Arthur Boswell in the Spring Garden neighborhood. In the center, an African American man, attired in a brimmed hat, a collared, zipped up jacket, an apron tied around his waist, pants, and shoes, leans on the open wooden door with signs that read, “Sale Arthur Boswell” and “Ice never fails.” The other wooden door has “coal” written in paint. In the scrapyard, several men moving material are visible. Planks of wood lie in piles on the ground. The Jackson-Cross Company, established around 1876, was a Philadelphia real estate firm in operation until 1998., Title from manuscript note on verso., Date inferred from content., Number 16., Purchase 2000., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date: [ca. 1945]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Jackson-Cross [P.9784.8]

Title: [Construction at Ninth and Sansom streets]
Description: Depicts four African American men construction workers on the framework of store fronts (i.e., Burd Building) under construction on the former grounds of the Shippen Burd mansion, demolished in 1861. In the background stands the hippodrome-shaped auction house of "Alfred M. Herkness Philadelphia Horse & Carriage Bazaar," in operation from around 1848 until 1913., Title supplied by cataloger., Date from manuscript note on verso., Reproduced in Kenneth Finkel's Nineteenth-century photography in Philadelphia (New York: Dover Publications, 1980), p. 180., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of engravings relating to Philadelphia. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Broadbent & Co., photographer
Date: September 6, 1862
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv - Non-Portraits - Broadbent & Co. [(8)1322.F.47f]

Title: [African American construction crew installing a utility pole]
Description: Scene of a crew of African American men construction workers nearing completion of the installation of a utility pole along a cobblestone city street lined with homes and businesses. Most of the crew members hold their mallets on their shoulders and wait on the sidewalk as another laborer retrieves a long pipe from their nearby utility truck. A mound of freshly dug dirt is piled near his feet. A white pedestrian observes the scene. A gas station is visible on the opposite side of the street., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from photographic medium and attire of the sitters., Purchase 1989., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1925]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - construction [P.9260.603]

Title: [La Roche & Stahl florist shop, 1237 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia]
Description: Group portrait showing a line of eight men, including an African American employee and possibly co-owner Balthazar Stahl (third from right), standing in front of the flower store with large display windows marked "LaRoche & Stahl." Bouquets of flowers, floral wreathes, and other floral arrangements are displayed. A retracted awning with the name if the business adorns the building. A large garland of flowers is weaved across the awning frame. Potted plants line the base of the building and entryway near where the men stand. In the far left, the back of a horse traveling in the street near men patronizing a vendor's stand at the side of the flower store is visible. In the far right, signage for the adjacent business is partially visible. Florist Maximilian F. La Roche partnered with his brother-in-law Batlhazar Stahl in 1878. The partnership also managed several large greenhouses in Collingdale, Pa., which specialized in chrysanthemums and roses. Previously, La Roche had operated his own floral business in Philadelphia beginning circa 1876 when he purchased Brooker & Co. at 1319 Chestnut Street. La Roche removed his store to 1237 Chestnut in 1881. Stahl, who was in charge of the retail business, left the partnership circa 1898 when he started his own business at 27 South Eleventh Street., Title supplied by cataloguer., Date inferred from the attire of the men included in image.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - Business - L [P.2008.11.6]

Title: [Group portrait of brick masons]
Description: Depicts seven masons, including two African American men, posed at an outside worksite in front of a partially completed brick wall. They stand on wood scaffolding and look at the viewer. Most hold tools of the trade, including trowels. Bricks, buckets, and other equipment are on the scaffolding around the worksite., Title supplied by cataloger., Purchase 2001., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1910]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department group portrait photographs - occupations - masons [P.9985.3]

Title: Cars loaded with cotton bales on levee near cotton growing district, Texas
Description: Scene showing a group of African American men using hand trucks to move large bales of cotton into or out of freight cars. In the left are stacks of baled cotton with two men standing on top of the bales. In the center, lines of men hold hand trucks of cotton, some turn and look at the viewer. In the right are open freight cars. A bridge and buildings are visible in the background., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Copyrighted by Underwood & Underwood., View is numbered P-V22091, the V indicating it was originally part of stereograph publisher and distributor, Underwood & Underwood's stock. An additional number- P215 indicates what position the stereograph had within a set. Pedagogical text printed on the verso reads "Freight cars loaded with cotton bales on the levee near cotton growing district, Texas...", Purchase 1998., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Keystone View Company was founded in 1892 by B.L. Singley, an amateur photographer from Meadville, Pennsylvania. Keystone View Company was the leader in promoting stereographs for educational purposes. In 1912, the company purchased rights to some Underwood & Underwood negatives for use in educational sets, and in 1922 purchased the remaining stock of Underwood materials. The company remained in business until 1970.
Creator: Keystone View Company, publisher
Date: [ca. 1920]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Keystone - Work [P.9600.12]

Title: Link-Belt type "CF" loader furnished to Baugh & Sons Company, Philadelphia, for handling acid phosphate to power operated buggies
Description: Product advertisement, probably from a trade portfolio, showing an African American man laborer near a Link-Belt loader inside the Philadelphia warehouse at 20 South Delaware Avenue. An African American man laborer, with debris covering his hat and clothes, stands behind the machine and looks at the viewer. Loader displays a manufacturer's plate for the Philadelphia branch of the company. Link-Belt Engineering Co. was founded by William Dana Erwat, inventor of the link-belt, in 1874., Title and date typed on recto., Inscribed in negative: Link-Belt 17061., Contains four hole punches., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Purchase 1990., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: November 1927
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Link-Belt [P.9285.12]

Title: [Forrest Theatre prior to demolition for the construction of the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company building at the southeast corner of Broad and Sansom streets, Philadelphia ]
Description: View of the old Forrest Theatre on Broad Street at night shortly before being razed to be replaced by the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company building. Spectators watch as laborers, mainly African American men, dismantle and remove building materials through a large hole in the side of the theatre. Signs for "Removal Sale" and "Drugs" are visible on the front of the building. Signage on the upper story window advertises "U.T.A United Tourist Agencies Travel Bureau." The Forrest Theatre, built in 1907, was Philadelphia's leading musical theater until its demolition in 1927., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Inscribed in negative: 1501, Gift of Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PSFS), 1989., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Jennings, William Nicholson, 1860-1946, photographer
Date: 1927
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Jennings - Fidelity series [P.9264.1]

Title: [Construction crew in a fenced ditch below street level, July 12, 1904]
Description: Scene depicting a predominately African American construction crew, working with shovels and picks around a fire hydrant, exposed pipes, and a storm drain within a large fenced off ditch. Planks and sheet metal cover part of the site. Workers place dirt into steel bins. A crane hovers above. Spectators, including white men and boys and African American man, line the fence and pass the construction site. Further down the street another predominately African American construction crew works within another ditch., Title supplied by cataloger., Purchase 1989., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [July 12, 1904]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - Construction [P.9260.423]

Title: [Construction crew near railroad tracks, July 8, 1904]
Description: Scene depicting a predominately African American construction crew working with picks and shovels in a pit deeply dug out of a stone embankment near railroad tracks. Within the pit lined with wood planks, a well-dressed white man, standing near the hook end of a crane hanging above, oversees the work crew. At street level, near a pile of rubble, a horse-drawn flatbed truck loaded with logs and two white workers stand idle. In the foreground, a "P.R.R." (Pennsylvania Railroad) air brake steel car stands motionless on the track., Title supplied by cataloger., Purchase 1989., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [July 8, 1904]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photos - unidentified - Construction [P.9260.424]

Title: [United States Department of the Interior] Quartermasters Interior Depot, 21 and Oregon Ave., May 24, 1917 [sic]
Description: View of a crowd witnessing the military performing a flag folding ceremony at the Depot under construction in Philadelphia during World War I. In the center, the soldiers hold a large American flag. More soldiers stand in formation in the right. Surrounding the soldiers are depot workers, some African American men, who watch the ceremony. In the foreground, men observe the scene while seated on a trailer and sitting and standing on stacks of cinder blocks. In the left, a man sits on a bicycle beside a building. Scaffolding is visible in the background., Title from item., Manuscript date written on recto should probably be 1918 not 1917., See related: P.P.9260.428., Purchase 1989., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [May 24, 1918]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - Construction [P.9260.427]

Title: Quartermasters Department of the Interior, 21st & Oregon Ave. Phila May 24, 1918
Description: View of a crowd witnessing the military conducting a flag ceremony at the Depot under construction in Philadelphia during World War I. The majority of spectators, predominately depot workers, some African American men, surround the soldiers as they fold a large American flag in the right. In the foreground, men watch seated on a trailer and stacks of cinder blocks. In the left, a man stands with a bicycle in front of a building. In the background, men work within scaffolding., Title and date from item., See related: P.P.9260.427., Purchased 1989., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [May 24, 1918]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - Construction [P.9260.428]

Title: [African American worker at a work site near the Trenton Elevated Railroad Bridge in Philadelphia]
Description: Portrait of an African American construction worker standing next to a support column of the Philadelphian & Trenton Railroad Bridge at Trenton Avenue near Frankford Avenue. The man, attired in a bowler hat, a long-sleeved shirt with only the top buttoned, torn and worn overalls, and shoes, tucks his hands into the waist of his overalls and looks at the viewer. Behind him, two laborers perform street work, including a white man holding a shovel that looks at the viewer. In the background is Frankford Avenue. Pedestrians walk on the sidewalk along the row of brick buildings., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content and attire of the people., Gift of Ruth Molloy, 1994., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1918]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - 5x7 - unidentified - Transportation [P.9481.3]

Title: [Progress photographs documenting the construction of the Sesquicentennial Exhibition, South Philadelphia, 1926]
Description: Series of progress photographs of the construction of the Tower of Light and "Progress on Lagoon" west of Broad Street and near Packer Street. Photographs depict the construction of the tower from its foundation to completion and the early stages of development of the lagoon from muddy marshland. Images show construction workers, including African Americans; construction equipment and supplies; automobiles and horse-drawn wagons; and foot traffic, including spectators. Lagoon photographs also show neighboring exhibition buildings under construction. Series also contains a view of the completed exhibition grounds. In the foreground, cars and visitors travel past the "Kodak" building. In the background, other exhibition buildings, including the "Battle of Gettysburg" theater, "Fire and Flame" hall, Alpine Haus restaurant, and Louis Mark Model Shoe Manufactory, are visible. The exhibition near the Navy Yard celebrated the 150th anniversary of independence in Philadelphia through attractions and entertainment in the form of pageants, exhibitions and sporting events., Title supplied by cataloger., Negative numbers written lower right corner. Includes 644; 1257; 1715; 1922- 1923, 1927, 3171; and 4057., Three photographs contain dates. Dates include: June 13, 1926 (Neg. #1257); June 26, 1926 (Neg. #1715); and July 2, 1926 (Neg. #1923)., See also related collection: Brightbill postcards [Sesquicentennial Exposition - 155]., Purchase 2010., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Cardinell, John D., photographer
Date: [1926]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Cardinell [P.2010.18.2-9]

Title: [22nd Street, west side north of Market Street, Philadelphia]
Description: View showing an African American man laborer and two horse-drawn carts in front of the Philadelphia Gas Works building. Shows the man, attired in a cap, a coat, pants, and shoes, standing in the street with his right hand on top of the cart. Trolley tracks line the street. Includes partial view of a railroad overpass., Inscribed in negative: 215011., Inscribed in negative: 9 30 13., Title from manuscript note on negative envelope: Penna. R.R. Co. 22nd St. W. side North of Market St. September 29, 1913. Pennsylvania Railroad No. 177. 214924., Photograph commissioned by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company., Purchase 1981., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Jennings, William Nicholson, 1860-1946, photographer
Date: September 30, 1913
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Jennings [P.9480.215811]

Title: Chew house, Germantown
Description: Exterior view of the colonial residence built 1763-1767 by master carpenter Jacob Knor for Philadelphia attorney Benjamin Chew at 6401 Germantown Avenue. Shows an African American man, attired in a hat, a white shirt, and overalls or a waistcoat, possibly a groundskeeper, posed near a tree holding a walking stick or a tool. Chew House, also known as Cliveden, was the site of the turning point in the Battle of Germantown in 1777. The Chew family enslaved people of African descent in the city of Philadelphia and in Germantown during the 18th and 19th centuries. The estate was the Chew family residence until 1972 when it was acquired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation., Attributed to John Moran., Title from manuscript note on mount., Yellow paper mount with square corners., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of views of Philadelphia. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitization funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator: Moran, John, 1831-1903
Date: [ca. 1867]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Moran - Residences [(8)1322.F.41a]

Title: [Broad Street Station fire, Philadelphia, June 1923]
Description: Scene showing smoke filled interior of the burnt train shed. Depicts laborers, including African Americans, clearing debris from a row of tracks upon which two burnt out train cars rest. Wires hang down from the skeletal framework ceiling. Fire hoses are strewn across the tracks. A camera and tripod rest on a walkway near the damaged trains. In the background, a group of well-dressed men and a group of firemen consult amongst debris. The fire, started by a short circuited cable, was at the time considered one of the worst fires in the city's history with an estimated $1,500,000 worth of damage. By the second day, despite the fire continuing to burn in areas, 2000 laborers began to clear debris and set up umbrella shelters to prepare for the station's planned reopening by the end of that week., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Purchase 1981., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [June 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - transportation [P.8683.13]

Title: [Aftermath of the Broad Street Station fire, Philadelphia, June 1923]
Description: Scene showing a large crowd of men and women commuters on a makeshift walkway stretching to the back of the interior of the train shed. Depicts the crowd, including African Americans, milling about on the landing overseen by a railroad conductor. Two laborers with a plank, one an African American, wait at the front of the crowd. Labor crews on either side of the commuters repair the destroyed platforms and tracks upon which burnt out train cars rest. Under a sign pointing left "To Filbert Street," a conductor and two men consult near a telephone box. The Broad Street Station fire started on a Monday and burned for three days. The fire was still burning when 2000 laborers began repairing the station to reopen that Friday., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Purchase 1981., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [June 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photographs- unidentified - transportation [P.8683.19]

Title: Pennsylvania Rail Road Co. connecting bridge at Girard Ave
Description: View of a construction crew working under a viaduct of the bridge to enlarge West River Drive. In the foreground, an African American man crew member lowers a hose into the ditch in which the crew of predominately African American men work. Most of the men sift through a large pile of dirt and rubble near a horse-drawn cart., Title from note on negative sleeve: Penn R.R. Co. connecting bridge at Girard Avenue., Inscribed on negative: 7314., Published in Harry Silcox's Philadelphia: the life of photographer William Nicholson Jennings, 1860-1946 (Philadelphia: Brighton Press, Inc., 1993), p. 85., Purchase 1994., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Jennings, William Nicholson, 1860-1946, photographer
Date: August 29, 1912
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Jennings [P.9480.7314]

Title: The port, Philadelphia. Loading ships from cars
Description: View of an active railway pier at Port Richmond on the Delaware River showing several dock workers, including African Americans, unloading pipe sections from railway cars onto a docked ship. In the right, the workers use pulleys to move the pipes from the cars, one of which is marked “N.Y.C.” In the left, workers on the ship look down at the scene. Port Richmond was owned by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company starting in the mid-1850s., Title from manuscript note on verso., Date inferred from photographic medium and content., Gift of Joseph Kelly, 1982., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Photo Illustrators (Firm)
Date: [ca. 1935]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators [P.8836.27]

Title: Sandeago - Cuba
Description: Scene of a street in Santiago, Cuba showing pedestrian traffic including a team of Black laborers near a horse-drawn dray. In the left, six Black men sit and stand around the dray. Buildings line both sides of the street with signs in Spanish. Men walk in front of the buildings and in the street. Two men walk towards the viewer. Several horse-drawn drays and wagons are visible in the background., Title from caption on mount., Purchase 1988., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Rich, a professional Philadelphia landscape photographer, was an avid traveler.
Creator: Rich, James Bartlett, 1866-1942, photographer
Date: [ca. 1905]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Lantern Slides - Rich [P.9266.1241]

Title: [Employees of the Philadelphia Grain Elevator Company's Twentieth Street elevator]
Description: Depicts a group portrait of nine employees of the Philadelphia Grain Elevator Company at Twentieth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Philadelphia, Pa. posed before the grain storage facility. In the left, two white men employees stand in an open doorway underneath the sign, "The Phila. Grain Elevator Co’s. Twentieth St., Elevator." An African American man, holding his bowler hat in his hand, and another white man stand in front of the doorway. An African American man, holding his bowler hat in his hand, and two white men, stand in the center. In the right, an African American man, attired in a brimmed hat, a striped shirt, a waistcoat, torn pants, and shoes, stands with his hands at his side. A barefooted white boy, attired in a long-sleeved white shirt and pants with suspenders, looks at the viewer. Behind him is a horse-drawn cart with two horses resting under grain chutes near an open entranceway. The cloth chutes are labeled, "Philadelphia Seamless." The Philadelphia Grain Elevator Company was incorporated in 1878 and engaged in the operation of a rail terminal elevator for the exporting and importing of grain., Title supplied by cataloger., Date based on the operation of the business and the attire of the sitters., Gift of Chester County Historical Society, 1991., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department group portrait photographs - occupations - Philadelphia Grain Elevator Co. [P.9325.1]

Title: [Construction of the Frankford Elevated railroad tracks at Front and Arch Streets in Philadelphia, September 6, 1922]
Description: Scene showing predominantly African American construction workers laying down railroad tracks near a block of rowhouses at Front and Arch Streets in Philadelphia. The men are surrounded by piled planks, buckets, and construction debris. Many of the workers have stopped to pose, including a white man, possibly a foreman. In the left, two men continue to work and consult near steps by a curved railing. The half completed tracks, bridge platform, a billboard, factory buildings, and water tower are visible in the background. Constructed under the auspices of the City of Philadelphia's Department of City Transit (later Transit Operations and Planning Division) between 1915 and 1922, the Frankford Elevated Railway consisted of a two track structure six miles in length that extended north over the roadway of Front Street, Kensington Avenue and Frankford Avenue between Arch and Bridge Streets. Operated under lease to the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (later South Eastern Public Transportation Authority or SEPTA), the line opened November 5, 1922., Title supplied by cataloger., Purchase 1989., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [September 6, 1922]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photos - unidentified - Construction [P.9260.419]

Title: Type "C" loader with swiveling belt conveyor storing coal at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Description: a Product advertisement, probably from a trade portfolio, showing the Link-Belt coal loader in action behind a small ivy covered building on the campus. In the foreground are large piles of coal. In the center, a coal shooting loader is set up and an African American man, attired in a brimmed hat, stands and oversees the operation. A laborer shovels coal from the back of a dump truck. Link-Belt Engineering Co. was founded by William Dana Ewart, inventor of the link-belt, in 1874., Title from typed note on verso., Date inferred from photographic medium and content., Inscribed in negative: 9249., Purchase 1990., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1920]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Link-Belt [P.9285.21]

Title: [Construction on Market Street between 17th and 18th Streets, Philadelphia, July 8, 1904]
Description: View of a fenced exposed area of the street with unearthed pipes protected by a series of wood girders. African American construction workers guide a steel bin over the girders and haul dirt from the site with a horse-drawn cart. Several spectators, including a well- dressed African American man, line the fence. In the distance, a white boy with a bucket rests on a crane near a workman's shed. Businesses line the street including "Leiber's Red Front Dining Room, 1788 Market Street." Painted advertisements for Coca Cola and a liquor dealer adorn the building visible on the street corner., Title supplied by cataloger., Negative inscribed: 554., Purchase 1989., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [July 8, 1904]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - Construction [P.9260.362]

Title: [Broad Street Station fire, Philadelphia, June 12, 1923]
Description: View of the interior of the burnt out train shed during the fire of June 11-13, 1923. Depicts several workers, including African Americans, building a new train platform and clearing debris from the tracks near the destroyed row of gates. Slightly damaged train cars and engines trapped by the fire, including "Al G. Barnes Wild Animal Circus," rest on the tracks. Large burnt pieces of the destroyed ceiling lay under a "Baggage Claim" sign. The Broad Street Station fire, started Monday, June 11, 1923 by a short circuited cable, was at the time considered one of the worst fires in the city's history with an estimated $1,500,000 worth of damage. By the second day, despite the fire continuing to burn in areas, 2000 laborers began to clear debris and set up umbrella shelters to prepare for the station's reopening at the end of that week., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Manuscript note on verso: Tues. noon., Reproduced in Harry Albrecht. Broad Street Station.... (Harry P. Albrecht: Philadelphia: 1976), p.30. (LCP Ok A1026.O.5), Purchase 1981., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [June 12, 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - transportation - railroad [P.8683.9]

Title: New Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane building, Pa
Description: View showing the progress of the construction of the Male Department, Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane, built from 1856 until 1859 after designs by Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan. Construction workers, including African American men, pose before and inside the partially completed building. Two well-dressed white men, possibly including the hospital superintendent Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride, are seated in the foreground. Kirkbride, an authority on asylum construction, promoted and oversaw the construction of the new building to alleviate the overcrowding and to abolish the co-educational conditions at the original asylum opened at 44th and Market in 1841., Title printed on mount., Date inferred from history of the building's construction., Photographer's imprint stamped on mount., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of engravings relating to Philadelphia. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitization funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., The Langenheim brothers, William and Frederick, of Philadelphia were pioneer photographers, and stereographic publishers. Between 1849 and 1865, the Langenheims produced over ninety different stereoviews of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane and its staff as well as lantern slides of various subjects to be used for patient therapy.
Creator: W. & F. Langenheim (Firm), photographer
Date: [ca. 1857]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Langenheim [(8)1322.F.7b]

Title: [Group portrait with Captain William Wallace Rogers, 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry, at military encampment in unidentified location]
Description: Group portrait of Captain William Wallace Rogers, 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry, and seven individuals, including white military officers, a white boy, and an African American man posed in front of tents at an unidentified military encampment. In the center, Rogers, wearing a mustache and attired in a Union uniform and hat, stands with his right hand on his hip and his left hand on the back of a chair. Two Union officers sit in the left, one holding a sword. In the right, a bearded man sits, attired in shirtsleeves and with a pipe in his mouth and another man sits attired in uniform. To the right of Rogers, a man, attired in uniform, stands holding a flag on a pole. In the right, a boy, possibly a messenger or scout, attired in cap, shirtsleeves, and pants, stands with his left leg crossed over his right. In front of the men, an African American man, probably a camp laborer/servant and possibly an enslaved freedom seeker, lies on the ground on his side, propped up on his left elbow, and looks at the viewer. He wears shirtsleeves and pants. The tops of trees are visible in the background. William Wallace Rogers (1832-1890) served in the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry during the Civil War and served in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, including the Battle of Gettysburg, where he was wounded in July 1863. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1865 and retired from service in 1889., Title supplied by cataloger from information provided by donor, descendent of William Wallace Rogers., Date inferred from content and information provided by donor., Pad: Red velvet with a decorative scroll in the center surrounded by an ornamental border with flowers and leaves., Mat: Nonpareil., Case: Leather. Geometric design of a scroll in the center surrounded by vases of flowers and leaves. Same design on verso., Gift of John J. Nesbitt III, 2016.
Date: [ca. 1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Cased photos – sitter – Rogers [P.2016.78.1]

Title: Cotton is king. Plantation scene, Georgia, U.S.A
Description: Scene showing an African American girl, women, and men picking cotton in a cotton field. In the foreground, a girl picks cotton near a large basket filled with the fiber. Behind her, a number of women and men, some hunched over and with large cloth bags hung over their shoulders, pick cotton from the rows of plants. One man holds a large basket of cotton with his hands over his head and the basket on his back. The women wear long-sleeve, checkered cotton dresses and kerchiefs. The mean wear long sleeve shirts and pants. Most wear wide-brimmed hats, except the man carrying the basket, who wears no hat. In the background, a white man, attired in a suit and on horseback, oversees the cotton pickers., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1895, by Strohmeyer & Wyman., Title from item., Curved grey mount with rounded corners., Title printed in six different languages, including French, German, and Spanish on verso., Several lines of text printed on verso about the cotton industry, the "world-problem of clothing," the cultivation of cotton, including "picking is usually done by negro laborers, as here, though experiments with harvesting machines are meeting with some success," and suggested further reading, including encyclopedia article subjects and Carrol D. Wright's "Industrial Development of the United States." Text begins: This beautiful field "white unto the harvest," is a sense to delight a painter, and at the same time, it is a condensed cyclopaedia of one of the greatest industries of the whole world., Gift of George Allen., Title variant of P.2018.16.6., RVCDC, Description reviewed 2022., Access points revised 2022., In 1912 Keystone View Company purchased rights to some Underwood & Underwood negatives for use in educational sets, and in 1922 purchased the remaining stock of Underwood materials. Keystone remained in business until 1970.
Creator: Underwood & Underwood
Date: 1895
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereos - Underwood & Underwood - Work [P.2017.121.2]

Title: Street cries
Description: Photographic reproduction of a print drawn by Helen M. Colburn, daughter of New Jersey artist Rembrandt Lockwood, depicting a group of African American men and boy peddlers at the corner of a city street. The figures are drawn with racist and caricatured features and mannerisms. In the center, a milk peddler stands and hawks with a trumpet in his left hand and a canteen of milk, ladle, and pitcher in his right hand. The man is attired in a wide-brimmed hat, shirtsleeves, pants, and a long apron. To the left, another African American man peddler pushes a large cart of junk wares and looks down at a young African American child running from a dog. The man wears a rumpled top hat, torn shirtsleeves, a vest, and patched pants. The child wears a smock dress and their hat has fallen by the feet of the milk peddler. In the right, a newspaper boy hawks the papers under his right arm. He is attired in a soft-brimmed hat, jacket, and pants. In the far right, a man attired in a hat, a shirt with turned-up collar, a long jacket, and striped pants, holds a bell and has his left leg stepped up on a box. Cityscape, a white woman street vendor at a table, and a horse-drawn cart are visible in the background. Robinson, married to Washington U.S. Treasury clerk Rollinson Colburn, lived in the Capitol between circa 1870 and her death in 1912. In 1887 eight of her works, some purported to be based on her own eye-witness accounts during the 1870s, showing African American life in the city were published as a collectible series of photographs. Occassionally, Colburn described and signed her descriptions of the scenes on the versos of the photographs., Title printed on mount., Date from copy right statement printed on mount: Copyright 1887., Written in lower right of original print: Mrs. R. Colburn 1870., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Purchased with the 2019 Junto Fund.
Date: 1887
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photos - 5 x 7 - unidentified - Events [P.2020.16.5]

Title: Uncle Jimmie, Beaufort, S.C
Description: Stereograph depicting “Uncle Jimmie,” an older African American man knitting the corner edge of a mesh fishing net extended out in front of him from a pole on the porch of a wood cabin. Shows the man, with receding, short, cropped hair, seated, and in profile. He wears a white, long-sleeve, button-down shirt; dark-colored pants; and work shoes. The man, possibly Gullah, uses a flat rule and needle on the edge of the net. Behind the man, in the background, an open door to an entryway with an open window is visible. A vertical beam is also visible in the left of the image. Knitting fish net was and is one of a number of Gullah traditions (customs developed by enslaved Africans living along the Atlantic coast of South Carolina) practiced in Beaufort, S.C., Title from manuscript note on verso., Date inferred from active dates of Wilson & Havens partnership., Orange mount with rounded corners., Description reviewed 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Wilson & Havens, photographer
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - misc. photographer - Wilson & Havens [P.2020.38]

Title: Link-Belt "D" loader handling coal from R.R. car to wagon in yard of Hamilton Coal Co., Wilmington, Del
Description: Product advertisement, probably from a trade portfolio, showing a Link-Belt loader removing coal from beneath a Philadelphia & Reading Railway car to a horse-drawn wagon. A laborer shovels the coal on the wagon bed. An African American laborer, attired in a brimmed hat, stands near the loader and looks at the viewer. Loader displays a manufacturer's plate labeled "Made by Link-Belt Company, Phila. Chicago New York." Link-Belt Engineering Co. was founded by William Dana Ewart, inventor of the link-belt, in 1874., Title typed on recto., Inscribed in negative: 8945., Contains four hole punches., Contains pencil marking on recto., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Purchase 1990., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1920]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Link-Belt [P.9285.19]

Title: Looking east on Market St. from above 8th St., Philadelphia
Description: View showing street construction by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company of the Market Street Subway on the 700 block of Market Street. Shows the very active street with several trolleys, horse-drawn vehicles, and men and women pedestrians hurrying on the street near the sidewalk mobbed with people. African American construction workers work under a "Danger" sign. Nearby, a man carries a sign advertising "Dr. Hyman" who "will fix your teeth." Several businesses line the street, including Lit Brothers department store (701-739 Market); "Dr. Wyeth's Painless Modern Dentistry" covered with signage; Hanscom's, grocery and lunch room (734 Market); Hertfelder's, tailor and clothiers; Wick Narrow Fabric Co.; and Asam Brothers, wall paper., Title from manuscript note on verso., Date inscribed in negative., Inscribed in negative: 4396., Purchase 1989., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: September 25, 1907
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - Construction [P.9260.375]

Title: [Portrait album of well-known 19th-century African American men of Philadelphia]
Description: Photograph album containing identified portrait photographs, bust-length, half-length, and full-length, of twenty-one prominent Philadelphia African American men. Named sitters in order of inclusion in album include veteran Harmon Richardson attired in a military uniform; educator and activist Octavius Catto; civil rights activist Edwin Chew (son of John and Charlotte Henson Chew); janitor and later undertaker Guy M. Burton with musician Ed[ward] H. Johnson and Terry V. Hall; musician Joseph G. Anderson; Civil War veteran and waiter Taylor Aldridge; Johnson al-Jube holding a basket; laborer Parker T. Smith; Jeremiah V. Hall; George Hall; waiter William I. Lancaster; barber James Keith; caterer Henry Tobias; Cheslea Bass, barber and partner to James Keith, with caterer Andrew F. Stevens; Edwin Lewis; Jas. H. Williams ae.[sic] Rush; Thomas Proctor; and restauranteur/caterer Ja[me]s B. Page. Musicians Edward Johnson and Joseph G. Anderson were members of Francis Johnson's band in the 1830s and 40s., Title supplied by cataloger from label on spine., Date from content and medium of photographs., Cardboard binding with torn spine label inscribed: Portraits of Well Know[n]. Insides of binding covers include scribbles and a pasted partial scrap of a flower., Photographs are loose or attached to album pages within binding., Sitters, and occasionally their profession, identified by manuscript notes on verso of photograph or album page. Some notes include statement "deceased," including for sitters Harmon Richardson, Edwin Chew, Octavius Catto, Edward H. Johnson, Terry V. Hall, Joseph G. Anderson, Johnson al-Jube, George Hall, James H. Williams, and James Page., Mostly unidentified photographers with identified Philadelphia photographers John L. Gihon and Parlor Gallery., Portrait photograph of Octavius Catto reproduced after a circa 1871 portrait photograph taken by African American Philadelphia photographer Gallo W. Cheston and/or Philadelphia photographers Broadbent & Phillips. See "Amy Cohen's Catto the Forgotten Hero" at catto.ushistory.org/. See also Harper's Weekly 15 (October 28, 1871), p. 1005 and a copy of the original portrait at https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2006.8. Photograph stamped on verso: Kean Archives, Phila., Portrait photograph of Taylor Aldridge inscribed on verso: Nov. 27 '83., Verso of album page with portrait photograph of Edwin Lewis inscribed: July '83., Verso of album page with portrait photograph of James Page printed: Sharpless Bros. Dry Goods, Chestnut and Eighth Sts. Philadelphia., Purchase 1990., Description revised 2023., Access points revised 2023., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1865-ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums [P.9304]

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