Great Depression

Building Liberty ships in Baltimore during World War II era

Building Liberty ships in Baltimore during World War II era

0 Comment Maryland, The Baltimore Sun , , , , , ,

71 Photos

In January 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created an emergency shipbuilding program, and Baltimore was one of many places that expanded its shipyards for this $350 million project. Construction in Baltimore yielded more of these “Liberty” ships than any other American shipyard, according to a 2001 Sun article. The images in this gallery were taken by photographer Alfred T. Palmer, mostly in 1941.

This post is part of The Darkroom’s ongoing look at Baltimore during and shortly after the end of the Great Depression (thanks to Yale’s Photogrammar site). All captions are the original text provided with that image.

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Baltimore’s trolleys during the Great Depression

Baltimore’s trolleys during the Great Depression

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47 Photos

Long before the Circulator and Uber, Baltimore had an elaborate system of trolleys. And as wecontinue our look at Baltimore during the Great Depression (thanks to Yale’s Photogrammar site), this week we collected images of Baltimore’s trolleys, taken by Farm Security Administration photographer Marjory Collins in April 1943. All captions are the original text provided with that image.

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Baltimore Street Photographer, Great Depression-era edition

Baltimore Street Photographer, Great Depression-era edition

7 Comments Baltimore Street Photographer, Maryland, The Baltimore Sun , , , ,

23 Photos

Yale University recently unveiled a platform called Photogrammar, which hosts 170,000 images taken from 1935 to 1945 — which spans parts of the Great Depression — by the United States Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information. There are more than 1,600 that feature the city of Baltimore during this time, and The Sun has identified more than a dozen “themes” from these images that we will roll out in The Darkroom in the coming weeks and months.

A majority of the photos from Baltimore focus on its industry at the time, but there were many that captured everyday life. And as the producer of The Darkroom’s ongoing series on Baltimore street photographers, I thought it a perfect fit to start with these photos. Photographers John Vachon, Marjory Collins, Sheldon Dick, Arthur Rothstein and Arthur S. Siegel were some of the photographers assigned to Baltimore. Captions in quotes are the original text provided for that photo.

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