It was the third week of June 2003, and as I was sitting on my patio this little ball of fur came up behind me. I picked her up and she fell asleep in my arms. For this kitten I think it was love at first sight. I learned years later that she had become an orphan. Her dying mother had dropped her off with her sibling brother at our neighbor’s house across the street. This kitten decided to seek a home elsewhere and found her way to us.
Pennsylvanians stood their ground on Little Round Top in July 1863 to help save the Union. Once again, in November 2020 Pennsylvanians have left their mark this time on the Presidential election.
My oldest son is a resident in a group home here on Long Island. Our family, including my son, have covered all the bases over many decades from various group homes run by different agencies, to out of state residences, to numerous psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists, hospitalizations and medications. There is no magic pill. One of the most difficult days of my life was when we left my son in an out of state residential setting for individuals with his diagnosis and drove away while watching him in the rear view mirror. He was just a teenager at the time, and spent three years in that setting. He has a dual diagnosis and as such falls between the cracks, neither wholly an MR patient nor an MH patient, and so he is aware of his condition. It is a constant battle to lessen his anxieties, but we cannot give up. This brings us to a decision that many parents have trouble accepting.
A motivated electorate to be sure. First time for early voting in New York. I arrived at the polling place at 8:45 A. M., and I was finished at 12:15 P. M. Not bad considering that I estimated about 700 people in line ahead of me when I arrived. Poll opened at 10:00 A. M. Part of the delay was due to the fact that voters had to register on one of only two computers before receiving a ballot. When I left there must have been 3000 people on the line. As the polls close at 3 P. M. many of these people will not get to vote today. Early voting runs all week.
War! It’s always the same. Men go off to fight and their women stay home and worry and weep. We present “War Extra!!“; U.S. c.1918. Research indicates that the newspaper is reporting on the Battle of Chateau-Thierry in July 1918. Note the shedding of the poodle. This classic image has perfect natural lighting.
This photo would be typical of those taken from the Farm Security Administration’s collection in the Library of Congress in our opinion. But it does not come from their collection. She belongs to DPI. Moreover, I would argue that this style is similar to that of Russell Lee, one of the great FSA photographers from the 1930s. For us to add this image to our collection was a no-brainer.
“Amish Woman With A Washtub“; Pennsylvania (May 15, 1937).
In the midst of the Great Depression this woman prizes her two dogs. She seems economically untouched by the despair in the land. I think that many of us have seen some people take better care of their pets than their children. Lucky dogs!
In a little used far corner of my home I spied a black, hard camera case. I remembered that it had some photo equipment in it, but I could not recall exactly what it was. From the accumulation of dust on the case I estimated that it had laid untouched for 10 to 15 years. What i found when I opened it was a gem! A gem!
Photojournalism is not pretty. We have discussed this issue several times in the past. The significance of an image is what counts, not the technical aspects of its reproduction. A fine example of this is Robert Capa’s “Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death” a/k/a “Falling Soldier” (Cerro Muriano, Spain Sept. 5, 1936) during the Spanish Civil War. Capa received the Pulitzer Prize for his efforts.
So our young woman leaning on a fence is likewise out of focus. Its meaning is subjective although we do not expect it to win a Pulitizer Prize. “A Windy Day on the Farm“; U. S. c.1915.
The latest addition to our “Cotton” collection is “Young Woman in the Cotton Fields“; Alabama c.1924. Our collection includes many images of plantation cotton production in the cotton fields. Although some of these images may be disturbing to some viewers they remain an important part of American history.