Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Many were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by your webmaster for contrast and color in Photoshop before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.
Shorpy is an online archive of thousands of high-resolution photos from the 1850s to 1950s. Our namesake, Shorpy Higginbotham, was a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago.
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Pittsburgh circa 1912. "Entrance to Forbes Field." Grandstand admission 75 cents. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Washington, D.C., 1922. "Social Hygiene Society exhibit." A peek inside reveals the period-appropriate use of scary dolls and mannequins in a variety of cryptic tableaux. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Washington, D.C., 1922. "Social Hygiene Society exhibit." The Women's Bureau photos in our two previous posts were used in this exhibit. Which is, in case we haven't mentioned it, FREE -- so come in, won't you? View full size.
Washington, D.C., 1922. "Social Hygiene exhibit. House of Detention, Women's Bureau. Clinic -- Mental and medical examinations are essential in order to make intelligent disposition of cases." National Photo glass negative. View full size.
Washington, D.C., 1922. "Social Hygiene exhibit. House of Detention -- Women's Bureau. All dishes are sterilized in order to guard against infection." Nameplate on the equipment: FEARLESS DISHWASHER. National Photo. View full size.
New York circa 1915. "Trinity Church and office buildings." Rising heavenward at center, the twin slabs of the Equitable Building; at right, the pyramid-topped Bankers Trust tower. Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative. View full size.
Detroit circa 1907. "Band concert on Grand Canal, Belle Isle Park." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.