Library of Congress Photos on Flickr: Check it Out

Woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, Calif. Shown checking electrical assemblies (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress.

I was catching up on some blogs the other day and I learned that the Library of Congress has put over 3000 photos up on Flickr as part of a pilot project.  They’re broken down into two separate groupings: News in the 1910’s and the 1930’s – 1940’s.

From the Library’s perspective, this pilot project is a statement about the power of the Web and user communities to help people better acquire information, knowledge and—most importantly—wisdom. One of our goals, frankly, is to learn as much as we can about that power simply through the process of making constructive use of it.

The Library of Congress even welcomes your tags and comments to help to complete some missing information.  “Many photos are missing key caption information such as where the photo was taken and who is pictured. If such information is collected via Flickr members, it can potentially enhance the quality of the bibliographic records for the images.”  The photos are also available for blogging and purchase through Flickr.

News in the 1910’s

“Worming”, Belmont Farm for girls (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress.

  Welcome to the daily news scene from almost a hundred years ago, as photographed by the Bain News Service in about 1910-1912. <snip> This selected set of 1,500 photographs is from a large collection of almost 40,000 glass negatives. The entire collection spans 1900-1920 and richly documents sports events, theater, celebrities, crime, strikes, disasters, and political activities, with a special emphasis on life in New York City.

1930’s – 1940’s in Color

Barker at the grounds at the Vermont state fair, Rutland (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress.

  These vivid color photos from the Great Depression and World War II capture an era generally seen only in black-and-white. Photographers working for the United States Farm Security Administration (FSA) and later the Office of War Information (OWI) created the images between 1939 and 1944.

The FSA/OWI pictures depict life in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, with a focus on rural areas and farm labor, as well as aspects of World War II mobilization, including factories, railroads, aviation training, and women working.

For more information you can check out the Library of Congress’ blog or read Flickr’s take on the project.  For more historical photos you can check out the Library of Congress’ Prints and Photographs Division.