Mel Rosenthal Photograph Collection
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The collection consists of photographs of members of various refugee communities in New York state, including immigrants from Vietnam, the Ukraine, Haiti, Cambodia, and elsewhere.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into two series: Refuge: The Newest New Yorkers; and General Photographs.
Scope and Content Note
The Mel Rosenthal Photograph Collection spans the period from 1983 to 2001 and primarily contains photographs from his series documenting new immigrants to New York City and State. Individual prints are signed and captioned on verso by the photographer.
Subjects
Topics
Access Restrictions
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as Mel Rosenthal Photograph Collection, PR 090, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Provenance
Purchase, 2001, and Gift, 2004.
About this Guide
Edition of this Guide
Repository
Series I: Refuge: The Newest New Yorkers
Scope and Contents note
Series I includes a selection of images from Rosenthal's larger photo essay of this title. The collection consists of photographs of members of various refugee communities in New York state, including immigrants from Vietnam, the Ukraine, Haiti, Cambodia, and elsewhere. The photographs were taken between 1983 and 1999, and were reprinted in 2001 for the New-York Historical Society. The photo series was exhibited at the society in 1999, as well as many other venues.
Photographs are filed chronologically.
Cambodian Children in the South Bronx, 1983
Former Fisherman from Vietnam (Hempstead, Long Island), 1984
Cambodian Buddhist Monastery in the Bronx, 1985
Amerasians getting married at the bride's home. Their fathers were American Service Men. Syracuse, 1992
A Bosnian woman in a textile factory which employed hundreds of refugees. It was bought by a British company, closed and the machines moved "off shore." Central New York, 1992
Hmong women (Liverpool, NY), 1992
Kurdish families, Johnson City, NY, 1992
Russian Jewish immigrants playing chess in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, NY, 1992
Sweet sixteen party of Vietnamese teenagers in Syracuse, NY. The words on the [karaoke] screen are "Forget the past. It will only hurt you.", 1992
Ukrainian wood carver, working at a furniture factory (Manlius, NY), 1992
Vietnamese children watching "Aladdin" in Endicott, NY, 1993
Adopted child from Russia at a naturalization ceremony at the New York Association for New Americans, Manhattan, 1994
Amerasian gang leader inside cafe (Syracuse), 1994
Haitian migrant woman (Putnam County, NY), 1994
Cambodian businessmen and a Buddhist monk at Tet Celebration in Brooklyn, 1995
Cuban families are among the most recent to arrive in Syracuse, 1995
Dancers from the Ukraine and Uzbekistan, Brighton Beach Ballet Theatre (Brighton Beach, NY), 1995
Haitian police officer at the Caribbean Day Parade, Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY, 1996
Palestinian teenager roller blading in front of her father's electronic store in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY, 1998
Ukrainian children's dance group at Ukrainian Day celebration in East Village, New York City, 1999
Series II: General Photographs
Scope and Contents note
Series II includes other photographs taken by Rosenthal. This photograph, taken shortly after the terrorist attacks in September 2001, shows a Muslim woman with a photograph of her missing son.