Archivist Update: Empire State Building Turns 85

On May 1, 2016, the Empire State Building marks 85 years since it officially opened on May 1, 1931, with the press of a button by President Herbert Hoover in Washington, D.C to turn on the lights.

Archivist Update: Coney Island

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people visit Coney Island in the Brooklyn borough of New York.

Archivist Update: Dogs in Warfare

In honor of National Dog Day on August 26, we feature photos of K-9 service dogs from the Associated Press photo archive that span from WWII to the Vietnam War. 

Archivist Update: Yosemite

John Muir, geologist, writer, and naturalist, was born today, April 21, in 1838. Muir, who co-founded the Sierra Club, is known for his activism which led to the further preservation of Yosemite and the establishment of Yosemite National Park.

Archivist Update: Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known as Mahatma Gandhi, was born October 2, 1869. He was the primary leader of India’s independence movement.

Archivist Update: Martin Luther King Jr.

This Monday marks the annual American holiday observed in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., the nonviolent activist and humanitarian leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.

Archivist Update: Historic Halloween

In honor of Halloween, we pulled together a special Archivist Update featuring classic moments spanning the years 1939-1982, including a multiple exposure made by Eddie Adams featuring his daughter Susan, a congregation of little E.T’.s attempting to “phone home” and children from New York’s Little Italy playing Halloween games.

Archivist Update: Glass Plate Negatives

There was no such thing as “point and shoot” during photography’s first century and a half. Until the mid-20th century, the photographer had to exert great physical effort, care, and time to obtain a single image.

Archivist Update: Early Air Pollution

In this addition of Archivist Update, we highlight an image depicting a college student wearing a gas mask as he “smells” a magnolia blossom in City Hall Park on Earth Day, April 22, 1970, in New York.