Historic Photos of New York State Richard O. Reisem

This book, with 200 fascinating images from the past, covers more than a hundred years of New York State history. It starts with a daguerreotype of a doomed man clinging to a jammed log near the brink of Niagara Falls and ends with a race riot in Harlem in the 1960s. In between there is a kaleidoscopic review of New York State’s incredibly diverse and captivating history.

New York was born from a Dutch colony, grew up with English settlement, achieved independence at adolescence, and realized an adulthood of wealth and power after building the longest canal in the world. With the development of photography, the myriad experiences of New York State were recorded, and the best of these pictures have been selected and reproduced here to tell an engaging story. Subjects depicted include the Civil War, launch of the automobile, age of the industrialists, massive European immigration, the Pan-American Exposition, Prohibition, the Great Depression, the 1939 World’s Fair, the world wars, and much more.

Many famous New York photographers captured the special pictures that make the collection in this book outstanding. They include Mathew Brady, John Collier, Carl Dietz, Arnold Genthe, Lewis Wickes Hine, Lisette Model, Arthur Rothstein, Alfred Stieglitz, and others. It is rare to see a collection of historic images of such breadth and high quality. All of the photos are accompanied by informative text to enhance the experience.