New York in the Early 20th Century

During the years of 1898–1945, New York City consolidated. New York City became the capital of national communications, trade, and finance, and of popular culture and high culture. More than one-fourth of the 300 largest corporations in 1920 were headquartered there. New transportation links, especially the New York City Subway, opened in 1904, bound togetherContinue reading “New York in the Early 20th Century”

Life in Germany in the Late 1930s

Life in Nazi Germany, 1933-1939Alongside control and suppression, the Nazis tried to influence every part of German life. The economyHitler claimed that he had dramatically reduced unemployment figures under the Nazis. Certainly, rearmament created jobs. But National Service meant young men were not counted as being unemployed any longer. Women and Jews were left outContinue reading “Life in Germany in the Late 1930s”

30 Intimate Photographs That Capture Everyday Life in French Psychiatric Hospitals in the 1950s

Jean-Philippe Charbonnier (August 28, 1921 – May 28, 2004) was a French photographer whose works typify the humanist impulse in that medium in his homeland of the period after World War II. In 1954, Charbonnier documented French psychiatric hospitals, and some of the photographs were published in Réalités in January 1955, in which he employedContinue reading “30 Intimate Photographs That Capture Everyday Life in French Psychiatric Hospitals in the 1950s”

40 Amazing Color Photos Showing Life in the U.S. during the Late 1940s

Following World War II, the United States emerged as one of the two dominant superpowers, turning away from its traditional isolationism and toward increased international involvement. The United States became a global influence in economic, political, military, cultural, and technological affairs. The unprecedented growth of the U.S. economy translated into prosperity that resulted in millionsContinue reading “40 Amazing Color Photos Showing Life in the U.S. during the Late 1940s”

France in the 1940s Through a German Soldier’s Lens

In 1940, France was invaded and quickly defeated by Nazi Germany. France was divided into a German occupation zone in the north, an Italian occupation zone in the southeast and an unoccupied territory, the rest of France, which consisted of the southern French metropolitan territory (two-fifths of pre-war metropolitan France) and the French empire, whichContinue reading “France in the 1940s Through a German Soldier’s Lens”