Historic Photos of Indianapolis |  | Author: George Hanlin
Publisher: Turner Pub Co
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
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Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 303,353
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 206
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.8
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 10.1 x 1
ISBN: 1596522534
Dewey Decimal Number: 977.2520222
EAN: 9781596522534
ASIN: 1596522534
Publication Date: October 30, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
By the mid-nineteenth century, the city of Indianapolis was a vibrant cultural center. Through the Civil War, the early twentieth century, two World Wars, and into the modern era, Indianapolis has continued to grow and prosper by overcoming adversity and maintaining the strong independent culture of its citizens.
This volume, Historic Photos of Indianapolis, captures this journey through still photography from the finest archives of local, state, and private collections. From the Civil War, the Depression era, and to the building of a modern metropolis, Historic Photos of Indianapolis follows life, government, education, and events throughout the city's history.
The book captures unique and rare scenes through the lens of hundreds of historic photographs. Published in striking black and white, the images communicate historic events and everyday life of two centuries of people building a unique and prosperous city.
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| Customer Reviews:
Picture this... July 8, 2009
FrKurt Messick (Bloomington, IN USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The book `Historic Photos of Indianapolis', with text and captions by George Hanlin, and produced by the Turner Publishing Company (who have produced many such wonderful volumes of different sites throughout the United States). Hanlin has his own history with Indiana history, having worked with the Indiana Historical Society for over a decade, and writing or collaborating on several other books on Indiana and the Midwest.
Publisher Todd Bottorff states in the preface, `The power of photographic images is that they are less subjective in their treatment of history. Although the photographer can make decisions regarding what subject matter to capture and some limited variation in its presentation, photographs do not provide the breadth of interpretation that text does. For this reason, they offer an original, untainted perspective that allows the viewer to interpret and observe.' This speaks to the power of archives of photographs and collections such as this, which are not dominated by any particular period, photographer, or school of artistic purpose. The photos contained here represent the breadth of the life of Indianapolis as well as the diversity of the viewers - the camera people represent many walks of life, and in turn illustrate many aspects of the life of the city, from the poor to the rich, the grand industrial to the grand artistic.
In terms of world cities, Indianapolis is very new, having been plotted from scratch in the forests of Indiana (which included the original Limberlost) in 1820. Designed around a central circle with major avenues as spokes from the wheel, the design remains today despite the city's growth to a million-person metropolis full of industry, commercial concerns, monuments, schools, and a diverse set of neighbourhoods. The oldest photographs in the collection date from the Civil War period (photography hadn't taken hold much before then), and continues in an unbroken chain to the 1960s.
Political junkies will appreciate the various elements that involve national politics. Early scenes include the state capitol draped for mourning for Abraham Lincoln, whose funeral train stopped in Indianapolis (the rail lines and national road both contributed to early growth of the city) and whose body lay in state in the capitol building for a rainy day in April 1865. Woodrow Wilson's vice president received his notification in downtown Indianapolis (the stands collapsed, injuring many people). Eisenhower came through Indianapolis, including a visit to the African-American part of town (a rarity at that time for any major candidate to do), in his 1952 election campaign.
The central feature of the circle is the impressive Soldiers and Sailors Monument, built in the late 1800s; several photos featuring this iconic image from construction to finished placement among the otherwise changing skyline of Indianapolis make for an interesting study. One photo shows the presence of bicycles in pre-automobile days, and informs the reader that bicycles became so common (and thus a bit of a nuisance) that the city council enacted a $1 licensing fee for them (not an insignificant sum back then) in 1893. A mere 25 years later, a photo of Washington Street downtown shows a skyscraper-lined street clogged with cars and trucks - unmarked, the photo might well have passed for a street in New York City or Chicago at the time.
It isn't just buildings that make a city. Photos of people are ever present. Newsboys of the 1900s wait expectantly for the baseball issue of the paper to hawk. Factory workers, cannery workers, street workers, farmers and soldiers are featured. Celebrations at the ends of wars, commemoration ceremonies, and state fairs also highlight the people. Church gatherings, fundraisings (one including a 4-storey tall cash register!), school groups, volunteer groups and other civic organizations also show the active community side of the city.
The photographs are in a beautiful duotone black-and-white format, a nice glossy texture with a silver sheen to them, but not such that it distracts or becomes too reflective. This is high quality in terms of the reproduction, which brings out great detail and, in a world where photographs always seem to need to be in colour, it is refreshing to see a book such as this resist the temptation to gravitate toward that, as such often comes at the expense of the black-and-white photos.
This is a great book for anyone with an interest in Indiana history, Midwest history, or good photography and interesting stories. It is a great gift for others as well as oneself.
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