A life dedicated to newspapers
In a reoccurring series The Darkroom takes a look back at some of the talented photojournalists who have helped shape the pages of The Baltimore Sun. One such photographer was Weyman Swagger.
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- Former Baltimore Sun staff photographer and picture editor Weyman Swagger spent 47 years working for The Sun. (Robert K. Hamilton/Baltimore Sun)
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- 6/24/1980 – Baltimore, MD – The I-95 elevated roadway under construction in East Baltimore. The eight lane road, which is part of a section that will connect the new Fort McHenry Tunnel with the Kennedy Highway. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 8/4/1973 – Baltimore, MD – These children found a hill in the 700 block of Newington Avenue that was just right for giving skate boxes a good workout. The old proposition that “what goes up must come down” is hard to reverse, these youngsters learned. But, trudging up the hill, dragging your skate box behind, is the price of feeling the wind in your face as you race back down. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 1/28/1977 – The lighthouse at Sharp Point in the Chesapeake Bay, 3 miles southwest of Black Walnut Point near Tilghman Island, is leaning at a 20-degree angle as a result of ice pressure against the navigational facility’s cylindrical concrete base. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 8/11/1979 – Ellicott City, MD – Two Howard County police officers shield a young woman and her baby as they escape a gunman who held the two hostage in an Ellicott City apartment for several hours after he and the woman argued about custody of the child. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- May 19, 1974 – Baltimore, MD – Buck’s Bid loses his jockey at the start of the 1974 Preakness Stakes. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 6/25/1981 – Baltimore, MD – Laura Hoopes volunteered for a demonstration of the effects of static electricity while attending a party at the Maryland Science Center. The most noticeable effect was the immediate change in her hairdo. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 3/28/1971 – Baltimore, MD – Marcher Gene Roberts, vvho lost both legs after stepping on a mine in Vietnam, was the first to cross the finish line in the 1971 March of Dimes walkathon. He spent about 16 hours dragging himself over the 25 mile route because, “It means so much to other people.” Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun
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- 5/8/1981 – Baltimore, MD – Welder Bill DiDomenico, left, and helper Keith Horton do construction work in the first section of the Fort McHenry tunnel at Locust Point. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 06/26/1971 – Baltimore, MD – The Baltimore City Fair Headquarters opened yesterday at 501 North Charles Street as William Donald Schaefer joined Joel Higgins of the Green Apple Nasties for a song during the super-celebration and free entertainment. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 6/24/1972 – Port Deposit, MD – The flooding Susquehanna inundated these trailers below the Interstate 95 bridge near Port Deposit in the aftermath of Hurricane Agnes. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 11/8/1966 – Judy Agnew was happy but calm following her husband’s victory in the gubernatorial election. The attractive wife of Maryland’s Governor-elect said she is looking forward to her new duties. She has never been in the Governor’s Mansion. (Weyman D. Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- May 8, 1981 – Baltimore, MD – Codex (right) veers towards Genuine Risk at a crucial point in the running of the 19080 Preakness race. The resulting protest wound up in a courtroom long after the race was won. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 7/11/1976 – Baltimore, MD – Police estimated 100,000 people crowded the Inner Harbor and thousands more lined the Outer Harbor to see the Danmark (left), the Gorch Fock (right) and other tall ships as part of Operation Sail. Baltimore’s frigate Constellation is at the upper right. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 7/13/1973 – Annapolis, MD – A turtle waits patiently for a break in traffic on Ritchie Highway near Annapolis. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 7/18/1971 – Baltimore, MD – Rev. Michael Hutnyan surveys the remains of St. Andrew the Apostle Russian Orthodox Church after it was destroyed by a fire. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 12/17/1979 – Baltimore, MD – A geometric pattern is formed by rolls of reinforcing wire waiting in the yard of Gray Concrete Pipe Co. in East Baltimore where they are coated with concrete and used for sewers. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 2/2/1968 – Baltimore, MD – Although the groundhog was unable to see his shadow last Friday on Groundhog Day, it was a different, sunny story on Saturday and Sunday. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 7/18/1971 – Baltimore, MD – A grief stricken women is restrained by her mother and two men after she saw her house on fire and feared her children were still inside. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 4/11/1968 – Baltimore, MD – A National Guardsman stands atop the City Jail, where many of the people arrested during the 1968 riots have been incarcerated prior to their trial or release. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 05/21/1964 – Baltimore, MD – Mrs. Rosa Bulter talks with Lynette House, 3, in front of George B. Murphy Homes, Baltimore’s first public housing with apartments designed especially for elderly. (Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun)
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- 4/28/1979 – Horse Races Point To Point – Charles Fenwick Saturday became one of the few men ever to win the Maryland Hunt Cup three timet in a row but he almost was a casualty en the 13th jump when his mount Dosdi hit the fence and stumbled. The two regained their balance and breezed to an easy win before some 10 000 spectators. Weyman Swagger/Baltimore Sun
Weyman joined The Baltimore Sun newspaper in 1963 and enjoyed a 47-year career with the paper until his death caused by cancer in April 2010. He loved photography and working in newspapers, which was evident in the work he produced.
During his tenure as a photographer he covered the 1968 riots, the construction of the Fort McHenry Tunnel and the inauguration of Jimmy Carter. In 1980 his 26 photographs from the Preakness race were studied by members of the Maryland Racing Commission when a dispute arose between the riders of Codex and Genuine Risk.
In 1983 Weyman was promoted and became the paper’s first photo editor. The position was a natural step for him due to his strong working relationship with the editors in the newsroom.
Weyman was happy to pass on his knowledge of photography with anyone who shared his passion. He would take those less experienced under his wing and patiently mentor them.
He was an “old-school” newspaper man. In fact, Weyman kept a mason jar of moonshine in his desk in remembrance to the days when liquor stashed in a drawer was not uncommon in a newsroom. At his wake the moonshine was shared by his friends as they drank a toast to him.
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