Series I: Photographic Prints

consists of 161 platinum prints, 21 cyanotypes, and 5 albumen prints dating from approximately 1883 to 1908. The photographic prints in this series were originally integrated into the Geographic File (PR 020); they were removed to create the Charles Gilbert Hine photograph collection. Photographs in this series are arranged numerically; an index listing streets, prominent locations, and subjects can be found at the end of the finding aid. The first forty-one prints have been matted (with the exception of number 026), thereafter they have been placed in folders in groups of approximately ten. The albumen prints in this series are labeled as being taken by both Charles Gilbert Hine and Thomas A. Hine. Titles correspond to the descriptions Hine wrote on the verso of his photographs or on their backings. Titles in brackets have been supplied in cases where the photograph was removed from its original backing. A set of copy prints of Hine photographs used in the exhibition Charles Gilbert Hine: Impressions of a City, held at the New-York Historical Society from October 1990 through January 1991, have been labeled with photograph numbers and can be found after the index.

Photographs in this series portray a variety of street scenes, buildings, and scenes of daily life in New York that demonstrate Hine's keen eye for lighting and composition. Side streets and main thoroughfares are shown from a variety of vantage points. Street vendors, theater and product advertisements, night views of Madison Square Theatre, and a variety of views of Washington Square Park are only a few of the subjects represented. A few rooftop views are included in the collection. Some photographs show street decorations for the Columbian Celebration in 1892 and the centennial celebration of George Washington's presidential inauguration in 1889. Historical landmarks such as the Jumel Mansion, City Hall, and Hamilton Grange with its thirteen trees are pictured, as is the demolition of the pre-Revolutionary Rhinelander Sugar House Prison.