Tag: U.S. National Archives on flickr

Striped road

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Vintage landscape/enclos*ure: Big Strips, painting by G. Davis, 1973, via Natl. Archives“Crossing the painted road which extends east from The Philadelphia Museum of Art, August 1973,” by Dick Swanson, via the U.S. National Archives Commons on flickr.

This is another photo taken for DOCUMERICA, a 1970’s photography program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (shown here with original caption).

The road painting, “Big Stripes,” by Gene Davis, was created in 1972. At the time, it was the world’s largest painting.  Davis was a leader in the Washington [D.C.] Color School.

Does anyone know if any part of this painting survives today?

The Sunday porch: East Boston

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East Boston, c. 1973, via National ArchivesLaundry hanging from triple-decker porches in East Boston near Logan Airport, May 1973.

East Boston, c. 1973, via National Archives“From the rear porch of his home at the southern corner of Neptune and Lovell Streets, Larry Vienza watches jet take off from Runway 15r-33l. Once airborne, the jet will fly directly over his house, May 1973” (with photographer’s caption).

These photos* were taken by Michael Philip Manheim, for DOCUMERICA, a 1970’s photography project of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The East Boston neighborhood was devastated by the noise from Logan airport’s expansion in the 1960s and 70s. (See Friday’s post, “Neptune Road.”)

There are more pictures from DOCUMERICA here.

*Via the U.S. National Archives Commons on flickr.

Neptune Road, Boston

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Life in gardens/enclos*ure: East Boston, 1973, by M.P. Manheim, via Natl. ArchivesA woman turns her garden soil while a Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority train rushes past the northeastern side of Neptune Road in East Boston, Massachusetts.

This photo* was taken in May 1973 by Michael Philip Manheim for the DOCUMERICA program of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Manheim captured East Boston, particularly around Constitution Beach and Neptune Road, at a moment of massive expansion of transportation infrastructure, including Interstate 90 (which terminates in East Boston) and an above-ground portion of the city’s rail system (both projects completed in the 1950s). But more than any other piece of infrastructure, Logan Airport was the source of the biggest and potentially most harmful changes.

Logan’s expansion in the mid-1960s led to the removal of a Frederick Law Olmsted-designed park (Wood Island park), and its 1970s expansion led to the displacement of residents on Neptune Road as well as mounting local noise and air pollution issues.

Forty years later, the lively neighborhood Manheim found along Neptune Road hardly exists, replaced with parking lots and runways.

— Mark Byrnes, for the CITYLAB blog of The Atlantic

There are more photos of East Boston by Manheim  here.

*Via the U.S. National Archives Commons on flickr.

Jamaica Bay, New York

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Vintage landscape/enclos*ure: Jamaica Bay vegetable garden, 1973, by A. Tress, via National Archives“Broad Channel, marginal land in Jamaica Bay near the JFK Airport. New York City owns this land and leases it for five year periods. This renter is cultivating a vegetable garden.”

Arthur Tress took this picture* in May 1973 for DOCUMERICA, a program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which “photographically document[ed] subjects of environmental concern” from about 1972 to 1977.

Note that the house is raised on pilings, as well as the walkway from the back door to the garden.

There are more pictures from DOCUMERICA here.

*Via the U.S. National Archives Commons on flickr. Caption by photographer or EPA.

The Sunday porch: South Beach

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South Beach porch, 1973, via Natl. Archives“Inexpensive retirement hotels are a hallmark of the South Beach area [of Miami Beach, Florida]. A favored place is the front porch, where residents sit and chat or watch the activities on the beach.”

South Beach, c. 1975, via Natl. Archives

These c. 1975  pictures* (shown here with their original captions) were taken by Flip Schulke for DOCUMERICA — a photography program created in late 1971 by the brand new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA hired over 100 photographers to “document subjects of environmental concern.”  The work continued until 1977 and left behind an archive of about 20,000 images.

In addition to recording damage to the nation’s landscapes, the project captured “the era’s trends, fashions, problems, and achievements,” according to the U.S. National Archives, which held an exhibit of the photos, “Searching for the Seventies,” in 2013. 

South Beach, c. 1975, via Natl. Archives“One of the many residential hotels for retired people living on small incomes. . . . The front porch is a favorite retreat.”

South Beach, c. 1975, via Natl. Archives“Income of the retirees in this area is not high, and most live in residential hotels such as the one pictured here.”

There are more pictures from DOCUMERICA here.

*Via the U.S. National Archives Commons on flickr.