The phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” was coined by American newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane in 1911. It’s a simple notion that applies to many aspects of our lives, but especially to historical photography. Sometimes, one simple picture can tell you more about history than any story you might read or any document you might analyze.
The Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in 1861
Unpacking the Head of the Statue of Liberty delivered June 17, 1885
Hippo cart in 1924. The hippo belonged to a circus and apparently enjoyed pulling the cart as a trick
Charlie Chaplin in 1916 at the age of 27
Suntan vending machine, 1949
Annie Edison Taylor (1838-1921), the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. She did it in 1901 because she needed money, and after doing it said she wouldn’t recommend it to anyone!
Only known authenticated photo of Billy the Kid,ca. 1879
Sharing bananas with a goat during the Battle of Saipan, ca. 1944
Jesse James, approximately 16 years old
Advertisement for Atabrine, an anti-malaria drug. Sign was put up at the 363rd station hospital in Papua, New Guinea during WWII
How could parents ensure that their children were getting sunlight and fresh air when living in apartment buildings? The baby cage, ca. 1937
Hotel owner pouring acid in the water when black people swam in his pool, ca. 1964
Bookstore ruined by an air raid, London 1940
Little girl comforting her doll in the ruins of her bomb damaged home, London, 1940
Animals being used as a part of medical therapy in 1956
Artificial legs, United Kingdom, ca. 1890
Unknown soldier in Vietnam, 1965
1920’s lifeguard
1928 fashion show at the beach
Former slave showing whipping scars
Measuring bathing suits in the early 1920s. If they were too short, the women would be fined
A space chimp poses for the camera after a successful mission to space in 1961
Testing new bulletproof vests, 1923
A mom and her son watch the mushroom cloud after an atomic test 75 miles away, Las Vegas, 1953
Walter Yeo, one of the first people to undergo advanced plastic surgery. His eyelids were damaged in World War I, and he got a skin transplant to replace them.
Illegal alcohol being poured out during Prohibition, Detroit 1929
Austrian boy receives new shoes during WWII
The Ford Theater, where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated
Children eating their Christmas dinner during the Great Depression: turnips and cabbage
Annette Kellerman promoted women’s right to wear a fitted one-piece bathing suit, 1907… She was arrested for indecency.
Princeton students after a freshman vs. sophomores snowball fight in 1893
Martin Luther King Jr. with his son by his side removing a burnt cross from his front yard, 1960
Construction of the Berlin wall, 1961
Hitler’s officers and cadets celebrating Christmas, 1941
Abraham Lincoln’s hearse, 1865
Frozen Niagara Falls, 1911
Last prisoners of Alcatraz leaving, 1963
A penniless mother hides her face in shame after putting her children up for sale, Chicago, 1948
A most beautiful suicide – 23 year old Evelyn McHale leapt to her death from an observation deck (83rd floor) of the Empire State Building, May 1, 1947. She landed on a United Nations limousine…
The real Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin, ca. 1927
Melted and damaged mannequins after a fire at Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum in London, 1930
New York City fire station, ca. 1912
Polish children examined by German officers to see if they qualify as Aryan, and would be allowed to live
Santa Claus in New York, ca. 1900
Smallpox victim, New York, 1881
5:00 P.M., September 3rd, 1967 Sweden changed from driving on the left side to driving on the right – this was the result
