Carl W. Schmidt Jr. photographs
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
Photographs taken throughout New York State—in the Adirondacks, at Montauk, Jones Beach, and Roosevelt Field on Long Island—and in New York City, where the bulk of the collection centers on the construction and completed attractions of the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair. Includes views of George Washington's Mount Vernon, and a number of images of ships at sea.
Biographical note
Carl W. Schmidt Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1916. He enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1936 and served until 1957. After retiring from the Coast Guard he moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where he lived with his wife Rita and their seven children. In Florida Schmidt worked as a carpenter into his sixties. Along with photography, he had passions for model trains and planes, which are evident in his photographs. Schmidt died in Florida in 1996.
Arrangement
Photographs are grouped alphabetically by location.
Scope and Contents
The Carl W. Schmidt Jr. Photographs span from the 1930s through the 1940s. The collection contains snapshots primarily of transportation, planes, trains, and ships, as well as photographs of the 1939 World's Fair. The collection contains 123 gelatin silver prints ranging in size from 2 3/4 x 4 inches to 7 x 10 inches.
Photographs of New York State include images of St. Regis Mountain and Whiteface Mountain, part of the Adirondack Mountains. Long Island images include the Jones Beach water tower and East Bathhouse, and Montauk Point beach and lighthouse. A large number of Long Island photographs were taken at Roosevelt Field and feature a variety of airplanes at the airfield. Manhattan images show the city viewed from the Empire State Building as well as an image of the Empire State building from the street. One image of Jamaica, Queens shows a snow-covered house. Mount Vernon images show George Washington's home and burial site.
The bulk of the images in this collection were taken at the 1939 World's Fair. Two photographs show the location as construction of the fair site had just begun. Included in general views of the fair is a small panorama, made from three photographs, showing the entire fair site. Other photos show many of the pavilions, the Trylon and Perisphere, and several night views. Also included are many of the railroad engines on display.
Unidentified locations contain mainly images of ships at sea. One particularly interesting image shows the U.S.S. Dirigible Akron moored to the U.S.S. Patoka. This folder also contains an image of an oil derrick.
Subjects
Organizations
Access Restrictions
Open to qualified researchers by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, contact the Print Room Librarian at printroom@nyhistory.org.
Use Restrictions
Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to 20 exposures of stable, unbound material per day. 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: www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
The collection should be cited as: Carl W. Schmidt Jr. Photographs, PR-275, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, New-York Historical Society.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Claire Griswold and Tom Schmidt, 2008.
Physical Facet
(123 photoprints: gelatin silver; 7 x 10 inches or smaller).About this Guide
Processing Information
Kelly McAnnaney processed this collection in September 2008. Joseph Ditta migrated her WORD-document finding aid to ArchivesSpace in July 2020.
Repository
Photographic prints
Scope and Contents
123 prints, 7 x 10 inches or smaller.
New York State—Adirondack Mountains, 1938, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes St. Regis Mountain and Whiteface Mountain.
New York State—Long Island—Jones Beach, 1935, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes images of the Jones Beach water tower and East Bathhouse.
New York State—Long Island—Montauk Point, undated, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes images of the beach and lighthouse.
New York State—Long Island—Roosevelt Field, 1934-1935, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes images of a variety of planes at the airfield.
New York City—Brooklyn—Floyd Bennett Field, 1937, inclusive
New York City—Manhattan, 1936, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes views taken from the Empire State Building as well as an image of the Empire State Building from the street.
New York City—Queens—Flushing—World's Fair, construction, 1939, inclusive
New York City—Queens—Flushing—World's Fair, general, 1939, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes a small panorama, made from three photographs, showing the entire fair site.
New York City—Queens—Flushing—World's Fair, railroads, 1939, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes shots of railroad engines on display at the fair.
New York City—Queens—Jamaica, 1938, inclusive
General
Includes one view of a snow-covered house.
Virginia—Mount Vernon, 1938, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Images of George Washington's home and burial site.
Unidentified locations, [circa 1930s], undated, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Contains mainly images of ships at sea, one of which shows the U.S.S. Dirigible Akron moored to the U.S.S. Patoka. Another shows an oil derrick.