Mark Stoneman Profile Photo

Mark R. Stoneman

Historian, editor, and translator for hire (German to English). Longtime resident of Washington, DC, now in Conway, NH, as a caregiver (he/him).

  Historical Images

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    Public Domain Image Archive, pdimagearchive.org.

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    “Digitization Complete for World-Renowned Franco Novacco Map Collection,” www.newberry.org….

    Newly digitized map collection makes over 750 sixteenth- and seventeenth-century maps available online.

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    Color photo of three women installing things in a shiny metal round structure. The front part (image foreground) has a wider circumference than the rear part (image background). The bodies of the women, one standing and doing something overhead, framed by the other two working on something closer to the floor, seem almost choreographed, embodying the dignity and high purpose of their labor.

    Women installing assemblies and fixtures in the tail fuselage of a B-17F bomber (Flying Fortress) under construction at the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California, in October 1942. The bodies of the women seem almost choreographed, embodying the dignity and high purpose of their labor. Photo by Alfred T. Palmer for the U.S. Office of War Information.

    Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Color Photographs, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017878924/.

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    Propaganda poster illustrating falling bombs from a plane bearing swastikas above a picture of a frightened mother and child. Background is pink. Spanish text is red. the bombs, plane, mother, and child are in varying shades of black. Spanish text: '¡Acusamos de asesinos a los facciosos! Niños y mujeres caen inocentes. Hombres libres, repudiad a todos los que apoyen en la retaguardia al fascismo. He aqui las victimas.'

    Poster from the Spanish Civil War, ca. 1936–39. The main text reads, “We charge the rebels as assassins! Innocent children and women die. Free men, repudiate all those who support fascism in the rearguard.” The text, bottom right, with the arrow pointing at the mother and child reads, “Here are the victims.” Note, too, the black and red triangle of the Anarchists in the lower right-hand corner.

    Source of image and main text translation: Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego, https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb5188576r. This page also offers historical context and analysis.

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    Cartoon ringing in 1911, the new year personified by a mischievous youngster in an airplane in the sky, who Old Man 1910, standing on the ground next to his wrecked car, is gesticulating at. Caption at the bottom; 'The old and the new.'

    “The old and the new” – front-page cartoon by Bryant Baker for Puck, December 28, 1910. Source: Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2011648851/.

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    Black-and-white photo of a nurse, medical bag in hand, wearing snow shoes in order to make her way across the snowy land. There's a pine tree as well.

    Rural health nurse, upstate New York, by Lewis Wickes Hine for the Milbank Memorial Fund, ca. 1934. The New York Public Library, image ID 460823.

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    Black and white photo of eight sled dogs pulling a man in a race, Mt. Chocorua in the background.

    Sled dog race in Tamworth, New Hampshire, on February 28, 1990 with Mt. Chocorua in the background. Source: Bruce Bedford Archive.

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    Black-and-white photograph with parts of two train carriages visible, Pullman sleeping cars. Snow-covered mountains in background, piles of snow in foreground. People from urban areas further south, presumably Boston, are gathering outside in their winter coats. Some suitcases and skies are present.

    “Skiers arriving early in the morning with the weekend ‘ski-meister.’ North Conway, New Hampshire, center of the Eastern Slopes ski territory,” 1940, by Marion Post Walcott.

    Source: Farm Security Administration Photographs, New York Public Library Digital Collections, image ID 58859979.

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    Blue, light blue, red, black, and white poster with stylized text and three stylized ice skaters in the center

    Iowa Art Project WPA poster for a Winter Sports Festival on Jan. 20, 1940, in Hubbard Park [Des Moines] and on Jan. 21 at Gilman Terrace [Sioux City], sponsored by the Jr. Chamber of Commerce and the Recreation Department. Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/89715174/.

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    Black-and-white photo: six Black men outside of what seems to be an eatery of some kind in New York City. Four are wearing glasses. Two are wearing light-colored suits, i.e., their work uniforms, with white smocks tied around their waists. Three of the others have suits of other colors, and hats typical of American men in 1940s movies. One portly man has on a grid-patterned shirt, long sleeves and collar. One of the two workers is seated on a wooden crate turned upright. Next to him is a portable radio (maybe 18 inches wide by 12 inches tall and 8 inches deep). He's got one hand on the radio and is pointing at it with the other. Two other men are pointing at it. All are leaning in, engaged with the program, some smiling and perhaps about to speak.

    The caption reads, “Residents listening to radio outside storefront, circa late 1940s.” There are some signs and goods visible, but they’re too small to make out. The uniforms with white smocks of two of the men suggest food.

    Source: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division (Street Scenes, Harlem, 1940s), New York Public Library Digital Collections, image ID 1800852.

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    I watched “Passage to Marseille,” dir. Michael Curtiz (Warner Bros., 1944), this evening.

    I forgot about the shocking scene in which Humphrey Bogart’s character machine-guns the surviving crew of the German plane he’d just downed at sea. The audience in 1944 was meant to sympathize with this act. After all, that crew had just tried to bomb the small civilian freighter. I don’t know if such a scene would have worked in a Hollywood film much earlier, but it did in 1944. Was this fictional atrocity an indication of American popular culture’s brutalization in World War II?

    Black and white image of movie release poster, landscape orientation, shows heads of all the movies' stars.

    Movie poster image source: “Warner Bros. Pressbook” (1944), Internet Archive.

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    Two Aerial Photographs, ca. 1918

    Zeppelin-like rigid airship in the distance, as seen from an airplane, a typically European patchwork of fields below, and a few farm buildings.

    Two biplanes in sky as seen from another airplane, one on right closer with pilot's head visible, as well as the circular blur of the propeller, one much smaller, top left. No markings on the closer plane evident, perhaps because of the lighting.

    "Taken from an Aeroplane" (top) and "The Scouts" (bottom) by A. L. Hitchin, ca. 1918–19.

    Source: The American Annual of Photography 1920 (New York, 1919), pp. 111 and 183, Internet Archive (bound and scanned with 1919 edition).

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    U.S. Government Caricature of Nazi Propaganda

    This 1942 poster was designed to counter the effects of Nazi propaganda in the United States. It is fascinating in its own right, but parts of the text reveal startling similarities to Russian disinformation in our own time.

    Follow the link below this poster for a description and full transcription.

    Accessibility: Description and full transcription of poster.

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    Europe's Changing Map in 1939 (Photo)

    Black and white photo: Young, dark-haired, white woman in short-sleeved dress, squatting, knees together, left hand in lap, right elbow on knee with right hand on cheek. She is looking at a giant map on the floor, which she is standing on.

    European situation spoils map on Post Office department floor. Washington, D.C., April 12. The huge map on the floor of the Post Office Department here is all out of kilter these days due to the aggression in Europe. Many are the embarrassing questions being asked officials about when Mr. Farley is going to do something about Ethiopia, Austria and Czechoslovakia. The answer so far has been - nothing. Probably the Post Office is waiting to see what will happen next on the continent. Miss Edna Strain is inspecting the damage done by the ambitious dictators. 4-12-39

    Image and caption: Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016875385/.

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    Shopping in Northern Virginia: Photos from 1967, 1971, and 1976

    Black-and-white photo: shoppers on escalators in the Hecht Company department store at the Parkington shopping mall, Arlington, Virginia, 1967. Very crowded.

    Hecht Company department store at the Parkington shopping mall, Arlington, Virginia, on November 20, 1967.

    Black-and-white photo: women shopping for clothes at Hecht Company Department store, Tysons Corner shopping mall, Fairfax, Virginia, 1971. There's a sign with a big hand pointing down labeled 'Hot Spot'.

    Hecht Company Department store, Tysons Corner shopping mall, Fairfax, Virginia, on April 22, 1971.

    Black-and-white photo: people walking in a parking lot outside of Woodward & Lothrop department store, Tysons Corner Mall, Tysons Corner, Virginia, 1976

    Tysons Corner Mall, Tysons Corner, Virginia, on April 12, 1976.

    Source: Library of Congress, U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2024640738, …/2011646503, and …/2024630362.

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    Color greeting postcard: boy sitting on stool outside with his hands on a big turkey in full plumage. On the other side of the turkey is a stump with a hatchet. Text: 'Thanksgiving Greetings'

    1909 Thanksgiving postcard via The New York Public Library. Image ID: 1588318.

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    Japanese-American Internment as 'Evacuation' and 'Relocation'

    These photos of Japanese-Americans and a few resident aliens on their way to internment for the duration of World War II are accompanied by captions that avoid the language of imprisonment or confinement. Instead of internment, there is talk of “evacuation” and the War Relocation Authority.

    These pictures also suggest what a rupture the location of their internment would represent. It is hard to imagine these urbanites stepping out into the barely settled terrain they were headed to, even if an advanced party of men without dependents was sent out a few weeks in advance to prepare for the others' arrival.

    Very young Japanese-American girl wearing long pants, a shirt whose cuffs are visible, an overcoat, low-cut leather laces, and a wool or felt hat with a ribbon. She's sitting on the family's packed belongings and holding a doll that looks enormous in her small arms.

    "Los Angeles, California. The evacuation of the Japanese-Americans from West Coast areas under U.S. Army war emergency order. Japanese-American children waiting for a train to take them and their parents to Owens Valley." Photo taken in April 1942 by Russell Lee.

    A larger group of Japanese-Americans with their luggage at the train station. Train carriages for passengers are visible. So are cars in the parking lot and military police.

    “Los Angeles, California. The evacuation of the Japanese-Americans from West Coast areas under U.S. Army war emergency order. Japanese-Americans and a few alien Japanese waiting for a train which will take them to Owens Valley.” Photo taken in April 1942 by Russell Lee.

    Bilingual paper announcement on a notice board that is mounted on an outdoor brick wall. It orders 1,000 men to sign up by Thursday morning for transport on Monday morning. The signup location is a school, which would be open all night. The notice seems to have been updated because it is telling people they need these sign-ups 'tonite'.

    “Los Angeles, California. The evacuation of Japanese-Americans from West coast areas under United States Army war emergency order. The Japanese referred to in this sign were an advance group going to Owens Valley for construction work.” Photo taken in April 1942 by Russell Lee.

    Rugged terrain far away from the affordances of a modern American city. Men clearing brush and building barracks.

    “Manzanar, Calif. Apr. 1942. Construction beginning at the War Relocation Authority center for evacuees of Japanese ancestry, in Owens Valley. Mt. Whitney, loftiest peak in the United States, appears in the background.” Photo by Clem Albers.

    Source: Library of Congress: Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information Photograph Collection, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017744879, …/2017744872, …/2017817916, and …/2021647198.

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    Two U.S. Public Health Service Posters Warning against Quacks, ca. 1936–41

    Poster: 'Beware the cancer quack / A reputable physician does not promise a cure, demand advance payment, advertise'. Gray, black, white, and red. The red is the face of the quack.
    Poster of man, composed of composites of patent medicine advertisements, taking a spoonful from a red patent medicine. Text: 'No home remedy or quack doctor ever cured syphilis or gonorrhea / See your doctor or local health office'
    1. “Beware the cancer quack / A reputable physician does not promise a cure, demand advance payment, advertise” by Max Plattner, Works Progress Administration – Federal Art Project NYC, for the U.S. Public Health Service in cooperation with the American Society for the Control of Cancer, ca. 1936–38, via Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98518641/.
    2. “No home remedy or quack doctor ever cured syphilis or gonorrhea / See your doctor or local health office” by Leonard Karsakov for the United States Public Health Service, ca. 1941, via Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/96502760/.
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    Poster from 1919 Advocating American Citizenship

    'To enjoy American opportunities become an American citizen.' Educational poster showing a group of people---two men, a woman, and three children in rustic European garb carrying their belongings. They are looking looking at where a big hand is pointing, to the sun radiating American prosperity, that is, the words: 'a better place to live / schools, peace, plenty / wealth and work'. The colors are orange, white, and black, with orange making up the greatest share in order to work with the sun motif.

    The notice in the bottom-right corner reads “Copyright 1919, The Stanley Service Co.” According to the Library of Congress Copyright Office’s Catalogue of Copyright Entries for that year, the company in question was the Stanley Industrial Educational Poster Service in Cleveland, Ohio. This provenance suggests to me that employers were being offered this messaging for their workers, even if the artist portrayed the immigrants as fresh arrivals.

    Source: Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/95507947/

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