The Confederate 'hero' who invented the concentration camp

 

 

 

 

The Confederate 'hero' who invented the concentration camp:   At the start of the Civil War, a formal exchange system for prisoners of war was not arranged because President Lincoln did not recognize the Confederacy as having wartime rights. However, after the defeat of Union forces at 1st Manassas/ Bull Run, with a large number of Union prisoners held by the Confederacy, the U.S. Congress requested that Lincoln take measures to effect an exchange. Up to this time opposing commanders sometimes would arrange an exchange of their prisoners under a flag of truce, but these transactions were few. The first government-sanctioned exchanges took place in February 1862, but it was not until July 22 that a formal cartel detailing the exchange system was agreed to by the two governments. Under this agreement, all prisoners were to be released- either exchanged or paroled- within 10 days of capture. An equivalency table was devised in which a certain number of enlisted men could be exchanged for an officer. Excess prisoners who could not be exchanged were to be released on parole, which meant they could not perform any military service until they were officially notified that they had been exchanged. The system was bogged down by paperwork, and each side found reason to interrupt exchanges from time to time, but the cartel operated reasonably well until it broke down in the summer of 1863. By that time the federal government had begun to use black soldiers in its war effort. Refusing to recognize black soldiers as prisoners of war, the Confederacy reduced them to slave status and threatened to execute as insurrectionists the Union officers who had commanded them. A retaliatory threat by the Union prevented the Confederacy from carrying out any executions but did not restore the cartel. Several times later in the war, the Southern states needed soldiers and requested the exchanges resume, but Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, with plenty of Union soldiers, refused. Both sides agreed to a prisoner exchange arrangement which operated during the latter half of 1862. Under the cartel, captives remaining after the exchanges were paroled. But the agreement broke down, in part because of Northern refusal to recognize the Confederate authorities as anything other than "rebels," and in part over the Negro question. Following the promulgation of the Emancipation Proclamation on New Year's Day, 1863, the North began enlisting former slaves into the Federal army. Confederate President Jefferson Davis declared that "all Negro slaves captured in arms" and their White officers should be delivered over to the South to be dealt with according to law. That could mean rigorous prosecution under strict laws relating to Negro insurrections. Still, special exchanges on a reduced scale continued, but from 1863 onwards, both sides were holding large numbers of prisoners. On 17 April 1864, General Grant ordered that no more Confederate prisoners were to be paroled or exchanged until there were released a sufficient number of Union officers and men to equal the parolees at Vicksburg and Port Hudson and unless the Confederate authorities would agree to make no distinction whatsoever between White and Negro prisoners. On 10 August, the Confederate government offered to exchange officer for officer and man for man, accompanying the proposal with a statement on conditions at Andersonville. This offer induced General Grant to reveal his real reason for refusing any further exchanges. "Every man we hold, when released on parole or otherwise," Grant reported to Washington, "becomes an active soldier against us at once either directly or indirectly. If we commence a system of exchange which liberates all prisoners taken, we will have to fight on until the whole South is exterminated. If we hold those caught they amount to no more than dead men. At this particular time to release all rebel prisoners North would insure Sherman's defeat and would compromise our safety here." (Rhodes, pp499-500) In October, Lee proposed to Grant another man-to-man exchange of prisoners. Grant asked whether Lee would turn over Negro troops "the same as White soldiers?" When Lee declared that "Negroes belonging to our citizens are not considered subjects of exchange," the negotiations completely broke down. After the cessation of prisoner exchanges under the cartel, the camps of the South became crowded and the growing poverty of the Confederacy resulted in excessive suffering in the Southern stockades. Reports about these conditions in the Northern press created the belief that the ill treatment was part of a deliberate policy. The inevitable war hatred made such a belief readily credible. After the war, Confederate partisans laid responsibility for camp conditions (on both sides) at the feet of the Federal authorities. They pointed to the Northern cancellation of the parole and exchange cartel which put a heavy and unexpected strain on the Southern prisoner program. They also condemned the North for its deliberate cut in rations for Confederate prisoners as a reaction to reports of bad conditions in the Southern camps. Prisoners were exchanged on the following basis 1 general = 46 privates 1 major general = 40 privates 1 brigadier general = 20 privates 1 colonel = 15 privates 1 lieutenant colonel = 10 privates 1 major = 8 privates 1 captain = 6 privates 1 lieutenant = 4 privates 1 noncommissioned officer = 2 privates Breakdown of Prisoner Exchange System: The breakdown that had existed between Union and Confederate military leaders early in the Civil War caused tremendous hardship and many deaths among the prison populations of both sides. The great battles of 1864 sent tens of thousands of soldiers into hastily built and overcrowded prisons and brought about a wave of suffering that became an embarrassment for both governments. Disease, starvation, lack of adequate shelter and clothing, and cruel guards were as common at Elmira, NY, and Fort Delaware, DE, as they were at Andersonville, GA, and Salisbury, NC. Though the North refused to allow regular exchanges to take place, sporadic limited exchanges occurred. An exchange of sick prisoners in April 1864 resulted in the return terribly emaciated Union soldiers to the North. Once photographs of the "living skeletons" were circulated, there was an outcry for revenge that resulted in drastic reductions in the rations issued to Rebel prisoners. There was also a more strident call for the North once again to allow exchanges. The call came not only from the South but also from Northern citizens. Inmates from Southern prisons were freed to carry petitions signed by their fellow prisoners to Washington, where they pleaded for a renewal of exchanges. Lincoln's refusal to allow exchanges hurt him in the 1864 presidential election; local Republican leaders reported that many of their compatriots would "work and vote against the President, because they think sympathy with a few negroes, also captured, is the cause of a refusal" to exchange. The primary reason for the breakdown of the exchange system was the South's refusal to treat captured black soldiers as prisoners of war. In January 1865, the Confederacy finally gave in on that point and offered to exchange all prisoners, regardless of race. Exchanges began once again and continued for several more months until the ending of the war freed all the captured soldiers.   At this point we concentrate on a certain individual in the Confederate army:       Georgia town's honor to one of America's worst Civil War criminals Camp Sumter in Andersonville was America's most notorious PoW camp during the Civil War where inmates were tortured, starved and died in their thousands Shocking photographs of survivors starved into living skeletons reveal the terrible conditions which weren't seen again until the Nazi death camps in World War II During Swiss-born Confederate Captain Henry Wirz's 14-month command of the camp,  13,000 Union PoWs died from disease, starvation and murder Wirz was later tried for his war crimes and put to death after he was found guilty of multiple counts of murder, abuse, and war crimes Decades later a Confederate group erected a monument to him just a mile from the camp claiming he was the victim of 'misdirected popular clamor' The stone obelisk praises Wirz for doing his duty 'with such humanity as the harsh circumstances of the times, and the policy of the foe permitted' It was America's most notorious PoW camp during the Civil War where inmates were tortured, starved and died in their thousands. Camp Sumter's commander, Confederate Captain Henry Wirz, became one of the nation's most hated men after shocking photographs of survivors starved into living skeletons emerged after the war, revealing the terrible treatment of prisons at the camp - something that wasn't seen again until the Nazi death camps in the Second World War. During Swiss-born Wirz's fourteen months in charge of Andersonville, 13,000 Union prisoners of war died from disease and starvation while witness claimed they had seen the captain personally murdering and torturing prisoners. He had also ordered guards to do the same. But that has not stopped a Georgia town erecting a monument to the war criminal who was eventually hung for the atrocities in Andersonville.     Camp Sumter, the location of America's most notorious PoW camp during the Civil War where inmates were tortured, starved and died in their thousands (left) Its commander was one of the most hated men across America - Confederate Captain Henry Wirz (right) Following the surrender by the Confederates at the Battle of Appomattox Court House in April 9, 1865 - one of the last battles of the American Civil War - horrific stories from the camp's survivors began reaching the north. Wirz, a native of Zurich, Switzerland, was soon arrested and taken to Washington to answer for his crimes. The Confederate claimed he had simply been following orders and blamed the South's lack of food for starving the prisoners. He also claimed the North's refusal to exchange prisoners had forced him to keep so many. Despite his protestations, Wirz was found guilty of multiple counts of murder, abuse, and war crimes and on November 10, 1865, he was sentenced to death in front of 250 spectators. His corpse was later buried in an unmarked grave. While many believed that his death closed a terrible chapter in America's history, not everyone agreed. +17 Andersonville camp, pictured in 1864, was the location of America's most notorious PoW camp during the Civil War where inmates were tortured, starved and died in their thousands +17 Cramped, diseased and vermin infested: The Andersoneville Prison Camp in 1864 under Confederate Captain Henry Wirz +17 At its height in August of 1864, the camp held more than 33,000 PoWs in just 26 acres of open ground - without shelter or even clothing for the inmates A campaign by Southern apologists, which began almost immediately after his death, claimed Wirz had been a scapegoat. Some conspiracy theorists even claimed that it had been the North that forced the South to mistreat its prisoners and sought a presidential pardon for him. It was declined. After the trial, Northern states created a memorial for the hundreds who died at the Southern camp including 400 people who could never be identified. But just a few decades later, a group named the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) decided to erect their own monument to the convicted war criminal. Union veterans had objected to anything honoring the death camp commander but in 1909, a stone obelisk was erected in Andersonville, just a mile from the site of the prison. A sign erected next to the monument attempts to portray Wirz as a martyr for the cause. It reads: 'To the best of his ability he tried to obtain food and medicine for Federal prisoners. 'He was tried for failure to provide food and medicine for Federals imprisoned here – though his guards ate the same food and mortality was as high among Confederate guards as among prisoners.   Shocking photographs of survivors starved into living skeletons reveal the terrible treatment of prisons at the camp - something that wasn't seen again until the Nazi death camps in the Second World War +17 Corporal Calvin Bates of Co. E, 20th Maine Infantry Regiment, was taken to hospital after inhumane treatment at Andersonville Prison resulting in the decay and amputation of his feet +17 Prisoners sent to the camp knew it could mean a death sentence as appalling conditions meant that disease and dysentry was rife while food was scarce   Stories of conditions in the camp eventually reached the North which were appalled by the inhuman treatment of its Union soldiers 'Refusing to implicate others, he gave his life for the South.' Four panels on the sides of the obelisk also claimed he had done his duty 'with such humanity as the harsh circumstances of the times, and the policy of the foe permitted.' It continued that Wirz had condemned to an 'ignominious' for excessive cruelty to Federal prisoners after he victim of 'misdirected popular clamor.' The final panel states: 'To rescue his name from the stigma attached to it by embittered prejudice this shaft is erected by the Georgia division, United Daughters of the Confederacy.' Today, 150 years after he was executed for the deaths of 13,000 prisoners-of-war, the monument to Wirz still stands. The obelisk is located just a mile from Andersonville National Historic Site, Georgia, which stands as a testament to the atrocities committed at Camp Sumter. Prisoners sent to the camp knew it could mean a death sentence as appalling conditions meant that disease and dysentry was rife while food was scarce. Robert H. Kellogg, a sergeant major in the 16th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers who was became a prisoner of the camp on May 2, 1864, described Andersonville as hell on earth. Writing in his book about the prison, he described his first day arriving at Sumter. 'As we entered the place, a spectacle met our eyes that almost froze our blood with horror, and made our hearts fail within us.   A few decades after he was put to death, a group named the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) decided to erect their own monument to the convicted war criminal Wirz +17 Despite his protestations, Wirz was found guilty of multiple counts of murder, abuse, and war crimes and on November 10, 1865, he was sentenced to death +17 He was hung in front of the crowd of 250 spectators for cruelty towards prisoners-of-war bringing to an end a dark period in America's history +17 Andersonville now houses the National Prisoner of War Museum, the historic Civil War prison site and Andersonville National Cemetery where hundreds of civil war soldiers are buried and remains an active cemetery 'Before us were forms that had once been active and erect;—stalwart men, now nothing but mere walking skeletons, covered with filth and vermin. Many of our men, in the heat and intensity of their feeling, exclaimed with earnestness. 'Can this be hell?' Another report. by Confederate surgeon general by Dr. James Jones, was used by the prosecution in Wirz's trial. Jones was appalled by what he found at the camp after he was sent there in 1864 by Richmond to investigate conditions and said he had vomited twice and caught the flu within an hour of arriving. At its height in August of 1864, the camp held more than 33,000 PoWs in just 26 acres of open ground - without shelter or even clothing for the inmates. Infested with vermin and lice, the only source of water was a tiny creek polluted with raw sewage. Inmates were not provided with any shelter or even any clothes except those they were wearing when captured. Men, wearing their tattered Union uniforms, were forced to sleep in makeshift tents or holes dug in the ground. Around 56,000 soldiers died in prisons during the Civil War - making up around ten per cent of all the war's casualties. At Alton prison in Illinois, more than 1,500 Rebels died in custody from disease But Camp Sumter was by far the most fatal with almost a third of its 45,000 Union soldiers dying in just 14 months. 'There are deeds, crimes that may be forgiven; but this is not among them,' Walt Whitman wrote of Wirz's crimes. 'It steeps its perpetrators in blackest, escapeless, endless damnation.' Andersonville now houses the National Prisoner of War Museum, the historic Civil War prison site and Andersonville National Cemetery where hundreds of civil war soldiers are buried and remains an active cemetery. Exhibits focus on the capture, living conditions, hardships and experiences of American prisoners of war in all periods. THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: THE DEADLIEST ARMED CONFLICT IN ENTIRE U.S. HISTORY No other war in which the U.S. has been involved has taken more American lives than the Civil War (1861 – 1865) More than 620,000 people were killed. That was about 2 percent of the entire U.S. population at the time. In comparison, that would be equivalent to 6 million dead soldiers today Death toll during the Civil War is higher than the number of killed in World War One (116,516) and World War Two (405,339) combined. As many men died in captivity during the Civil War as were killed in the whole of the Vietnam War A recent study by a historian put the death toll at 850,000, because it includes civilian casualties and is does not cover strictly the period of active fighting between 1861 and 1865 +17 One sergeant major in the 16th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers who was became a prisoner of the camp in 1864, described Andersonville as hell on earth The quiet killer during the war was disease. It killed hundreds of thousands - more than double the number of men who died on the battlefield or from their wounds. Overall, approximately one of every four men did not live to see the end of the war The deadliest combat of the war was the Battle of Gettysburg, Penn. In 1863. About 52,000 people died, were injured or went missing after that battle alone 2,000 boys who were 14 fought for the Union; 300 who were 13 years old or younger; and 200,000 boys who were not more than 16 years of age

1900 AGE OF HOPE

 

 

 

At the beginning of the twentieth century the world was stable and certain, but unequal. The Paris Exhibition of 1900 symbolises the optimism of a peaceful age when affluence is rising and people have faith in new technologies like electricity. The United States becomes the most powerful country in the world, destination for many immigrants from Europe. Compulsory education in many countries had led to a literate population exposed to new ideas, leisure and consumerism through newspapers. Trade unions grow in strength and force governments to protect employment conditions for workers, while suffragettes push for votes for women. Revolutions shake the political order in China and Russia. European empires continue to dominate the globe, however signs of dissent appear in India and South Africa, and Japan's victory over Russia in 1905 challenges the belief of white superiority. Nationalism rises in Europe, bringing the continent to conflict in 1914.
April 19, 1998

Killing Fields
(UK: 1914) (US: 1916)
The Great War is fought with larger armies and deadlier weapons than ever before, bringing death and carnage on an unprecedented scale to Europe. The bloody Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Verdunfail to break a stalemate on the Western front, and soldiers become increasingly frustrated and demoralised with the war's mounting casualties, poor living conditions and lack of progress. World War I'sPropaganda began for the first time in 1916. Despite the October Revolution knocking Russia out of the war in 1917, the odds shift against a blockaded Germany with the entry of the United States into the war, and eventually an armistice is signed. The psychological scars of this war would make the public less willing in future to go to war, or trust their leaders. The introductory scene shows soldiers mobilising at the beginning of the war, grossly under-estimating the destructive power of modern warfare. Interviewees include Karl von Clemm, Edward Smout and Cecil Lewis.

 

 

The New York City Municipal Archives just released a database of over 870,000 photos from its collection of more than 2.2 million images of New York throughout the 20th century. Their subjects include daily life, construction, crime, city business, aerial photographs, and more. I spent hours lost in these amazing photos, and gathered this group together to give you just a glimpse of what's been made available from this remarkable collection. Sunlight floods in through windows in the vaulted main room of New York City's Grand Central Terminal, illuminating the main concourse, ticket windows and information kiosk. Photo taken ca. 1935-1941. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) 2 Aerial view of New York City, looking north, on December 16, 1951.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 3 28th Street Looking east from Second Avenue, on April 4, 1931. Google map streetview today here.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 4 Meeker Avenue Bridge under construction, looking south, showing Brooklyn approach, on June 29, 1939 (Joseph Shelderfer/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 5 Shadows are cast beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, seen from a stable roof, on May 6, 1918.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 6 A worker on the Brooklyn Bridge, on November 19, 1928.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 7 Markus Mercury Wheel Club, Flushing Race Track, bicyclists ready to race in June of 1894.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 8 Original City Hall subway station, IRT Lexington Avenue Line, in 1904.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 9 Coney Island looking east from Steeplechase Pier showing Sunday bathers, crowd on beach, on July 30, 1922. (Rutter, Edward E./Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 10 A two-horse team street cleaner, with sprayer, squeegee, and roller at rear.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 11 An experimental exposure made on the Queensboro Bridge, on February 9, 1910.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 12 Italian vegetable sidewalk stand, on Bleeker Street, near Church of Our Lady of Pompeii, in August of 1937. (Bofinger, E.M./Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 13 Lower Manhattan skyline at night, seen from either the Staten Island Ferry or Governor's Island, in February of 1938. (Bofinger, E. M./Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 14 Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History, West 81st St, between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 15 Red Hook Swimming Pool, Clinton, Bay & Henry Streets, Brooklyn. Bathers as far as the eye can see. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 16 Queensboro Bridge under construction, on August 8, 1907.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 17 The Queensboro Bridge, showing reconstruction of tracks looking east, on November 22, 1929.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 18 A one-legged newspaper boy and other "newsies", on Delancey Street, on December 26, 1906.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 19 New York Police Department evidence photo, homicide scene. Jos Kellner, 404 East 54th Street, murdered in hallway, on January 7, 1916. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 20 Powell House at 195th Street and 58th Avenue North, Queens, on May 20, 1941(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 21 Times Square theaters by day, in New York City. The Times Building, Loew's Theatre, Hotel Astor, Gaiety Theatre and other landmarks are featured in this January, 1938 photo.(Bofinger, E.M./Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 22 An aerial view of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, on January 27, 1965.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 23 A view from the Williamsburg Bridge, looking west, showing congested traffic in Manhattan, on January 29, 1923. (Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 24 Painters suspended on cables of the the Brooklyn Bridge, on October 7, 1914.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 25 A Hooverville in Brooklyn, ca. 1930-1932. The area is now Red Hook Park in Brooklyn.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 26 New York Police Department Evidence photo. Homicide victim - overhead view, ca. 1916-1920. At the corners, note the legs of the tripod supporting the camera above the body.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 27 A Subway Road Comes up for air in Brooklyn -- in background, a view of Manhattan from subway elevated tracks, 8th Street, Brooklyn, New York, on March 21, 1938.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 28 Yankee Stadium, Yankees on the field during a game, ca. 1935-1947.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 29 A man reads a newspaper on New York's 6th Ave. and 40th St, with the headline: "Nazi Army Now 75 Miles From Paris.", on May 18, 1940. (AP Photo/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 30 New York Fire Department demonstration of a steam pumper converted from horse-drawn to motor-driven, at 12th Avenue and 56th Street. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 31 Men cut ice from Kissena Lake in Queens, ca. 1860-1900. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 32 Children and adults with herd of sheep in the Sheep Meadow in Central Park, New York City, ca. 1900-1910. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 33 Part of the superstructure of the under-construction Manhattan Bridge rises above Washington Street in New York, on June 5, 1908.(AP Photo/Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 34 Manhattan Bridge, under-construction, seen from the roof of Robert Gair Building, showing suspenders and saddles, on February 11, 1909.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 35 Aboard a police boat on October 10, 1934, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia hacks away at confiscated slot machines about to be destroyed and dumped into New York harbor.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 36 A view down an alley, as rows and rows of laundry hang from tenements ca. 1935-1941. Seen looking west from 70 Columbus Avenue or Amsterdam Avenue at 63nd Street.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 37 A crowded street market under New York City Rail Road tracks, looking south on Park Avenue from 123rd Street in June of 1932. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 38 A night view of Midtown Manhattan, looking south from Madison Avenue and the 50's, ca. 1935-1941. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 39 Amid road construction, the Hudson Diner advertises "Tables for Ladies" on November 20, 1929, on Marginal Street, looking east from 125th Street. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 40 Ninth Avenue El trains with passengers on 2 levels of tracks, 66th Street El station in background, in October of 1933. Photo taken on Columbus Avenue, northwest of Lincoln Square & 65th Street.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 41 The S.S. Normandie, seen from a Staten Island ship steaming through upper bay on its way to a river pier built for it, ca. 1935-1941. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 42 A view of the city from the Brooklyn Tower of the Brooklyn Bridge, on April 24, 1933.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 43 A view of the city from the New York tower of George Washington Bridge, 168th Street & Hudson River, on December 22, 1936. (Jack Rosenzwieg/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 44 Fire Boats fight a blaze at Grace Line Pier 57, West 15th St, near the National Biscuit Co. building.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 45 Members of the New York Fire Department attend to a fire victim.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 46 The "Well", US Signal Corps Army Base Terminal, Port of Embarkation. Ration cases from crate cars are hoisted to warehouse bins for storage, ca. 1945-1946. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 47 Water from firefighters' hoses freezes on the side of adjoining buildings.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 48 Interior view of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) subway powerhouse, 58th to 59th Street, ca. 1904. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 49 42nd Street, looking west from 2nd Avenue. Chrysler Building at top right, "News Tavern" "Goblet Bar" at lower right, ca. 1935-1941. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 50 Brooklyn Bridge painters at work high above the city, on December 3, 1915.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 51 Aftermath of a collision on an elevated rail track. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 52 The Queensboro Bridge, leading to Manhattan, seen on May 1, 1912.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 53 A motorman operates a trolley cars near Williamsburg Bridge, on September 25, 1924. Signs advertise almonds, cold remedies, mustard, and stove polish.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) #

Rare Color Photography of Early 1900s Paris Although some of these images might look like a modern day photography and some of them like painted pictures, actually it is real colored photographies, taken at the beginning of the 20th century Paris (France). All the images shown below were taken using Autochrome Lumière technology. It's an early color photography process, patented in 1903 and invented by the famous French Auguste and Louis Lumière, populary known as Lumière Brothers. They were the earliest filmmakers in history. So, here it is! The city of love: the streets, the architecture, the people, interiors and grand events – all of them in their true colors.

Lower Manhattan skyline at night, seen beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn end in February of 1938. See this scene today in this Google Map street view.(E. M. Bofinger/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) 2 A blacksmith shoes a horse in the doorway of a smith shop at 33 Cornelia Street, in Greenwich Village, with two little girls looking on, in 1937. See this same storefront today in this Google Mapstreet view. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 3 Carnegie Hall, seen from 7th Avenue and 57th Street, ca. 1935-1941. Street view.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 4 Italians playing a game of Bocce in Brooklyn in 1937. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 5 View of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Tower of the Brooklyn Bridge, on April 24, 1933.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 6 Trolley car number 311 at the car barn of the Williamsburg Bridge trolley line, photographed on March 22, 1928. (Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 7 Brooklyn Central Library, main terrace and entrance, on Grand Army Plaza, on September 6, 1939.Street view. (Joseph Shelderfer/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 8 Fifth Avenue. looking north from 110th Street showing a movie theater, billboards, and gas station, on October 6, 1929. Street view. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 9 Vanderbilt Cup Race at Roosevelt Raceway, Long Island, in September of 1937.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 10 A massive "W" in the Kent Avenue yard of the Williamsburg Bridge. The 20-foot "W", part of a giant "WSS", was placed on a tower on March 20, 1918. WSS stands for "War Savings Stamps." Letters were erected on the south side of the Manhattan tower during World War I.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 11 View of midtown from Chanin Building, NY Central Building right, RCA Building left, in December of 1937. (Frederick W. Ritter/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 12 Varick Street Looking north from Franklin Street, before the cobblestone was paved, on May 10, 1914. Street view. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 13 Crime scene with onlookers leaning out of tenement windows, a man's body on the sidewalk in front of laundry and Italian pasta makers and oil and wine importers, ca. 1916-1920.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 14 Park Avenue tunnel, looking north from Murray Hill Tunnel Station, at 38th Street, on July 17, 1923.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 15 Mr. and Mrs. Babe Ruth watch the World Series game with Kate Smith at the Polo Grounds, in September of 1936. The series matched the New York Yankees against the New York Giants, with the Yankees winning in six games. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 16 The "Granite State", sunk and listing, after burning at her pier in the Hudson River on May 23, 1921. The Granite State was formerly the USS New Hampshire, built in 1825, launched in 1864, and served as part of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in the Civil War.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 17 View from the roof of a shanty looking East, showing 3:50 PM congestion on the South footwalk of the Queensboro Bridge, on April 11, 1909. The bridge opened to traffic on March 30, 1909.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 18 Play Street Detour sign stands in front of boys playing stickball, ca. 1916-1920.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 19 A view of bustling port area on West Street, ca. 1900. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 20 Part of a stitched-together panorama, composed of 9 photos taken of the East side of the wide West Street, from Rector Street to Morris St, in the 1940s. Be sure to view the full-size 5424-pixel-wide version. The odd overlaps in the stitching are due to the changes in perspective as the photographer moved down the street to take each shot. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 21 A man in a diving suit, about to descend, ca. 1910. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 22 A chain-driven Mack truck belonging to the Street Cleaning Department, at 19th Street East, on August 4, 1920. (Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 23 A 20-inch Discharge pipe, near the foot of West 8th Street, Coney Island, on September 1, 1922.(Edward E. Rutter/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 24 Shafts of sunlight penetrate through upper windows of the Vaulted room of Grand Central Terminal, as crowds gather near the information kiosk on the Terminal concourse, ca. 1935-1941.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 25 74th - 78th Street Cable Car tracks, looking southwest from 1460 2nd Avenue, on March 27, 1931.Street view. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 26 Firefighters at work, as a steam pumper is hooked to a hydrant and two motorized hose tenders.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 27 Interior view of Brooklyn Bridge station, on April 6, 1907.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 28 Nassau Street, looking south from Fulton Street, on March 3, 1926. Street view.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 29 Avenue C, looking north from 6th Street. Shops, dentists' and oculist's signs on display, on November 6, 1926. Street view. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 30 An overturned car, near the 145th Street Bridge ramp at Lenox Avenue, on July 10, 1917(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 31 View of the Cathedral Of Saint John the Divine and other buildings in the "close", ca. 1935-1941.Street view. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 32 The overflowing wrecking yard of Academy Auto Wreckers, seen on November 4, 1963.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 33 Tall-masted ships beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, in 1903. Street view.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 34 Children play in the street on a snowy day, 50th Street near 4th Avenue, on February 19, 1924.(Edward E. Rutter/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 35 Park Avenue, looking northwest from 47th Street, in 1921. Street view.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 36 34th Street Looking east from Third Avenue, beneath the curved El station, on May 16, 1931. Present day street view. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 37 The interior of a trolley car after an accident on the Williamsburg Bridge, on August 16, 1926.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 38 Approach to the Brooklyn Bridge, seen from atop the bridge, on June 29, 1909.(Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 39 Roller coaster and Boardwalk, Coney Island. View up West 10th Street, looking from the Boardwalk to Surf Avenue, on December 19, 1922. The old ride is gone, but a new one stands in its place, visible in this street view. (Edward E. Rutter/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 40 Load station entrance for the New York Times, 225 West 43rd Street, with newspaper delivery chutes visible inside, and lighted windows of editorial rooms 3rd floor, on December 11, 1937. Street view. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 41 Seventh Avenue, looking north from 33rd Street. Street view.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 42 Manhattan Bridge nearing completion, viewed from Pier 33, East River looking South, on April 7, 1909. (Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 43 Police officer carries unconscious child, believed to be a contagious case, to an awaiting ambulance, ca. 1910-1920. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 44 Lower Manhattan, seen from East River docks in November of 1937(E.M. Bofinger/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 45 Twelfth Avenue Looking south from 134th Street, under viaduct, on October 6, 1929. Present daystreet view. (Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 46 116th Street, looking west from east of Third Avenue. "Ride On the Open Air Elevated", written on the side of the El station, as a trolley approaches, on October 8, 1925. Present day street view.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 47 Park Avenue Looking north from West roadway of 34th Street, on July 17, 1923. Street view.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 48 View from Seamen's Church Institute looking northwest, in Lower Manhattan -- Coenties Slip, and the curve of the 2nd-3rd Avenues "El" structure in foreground. Photograph taken in June of 1938.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 49 First (oldest) Jewish Cemetery in Manhattan, Chatham Square.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) # 50 The shadow of the photographer and camera appear on Jamaica Avenue East, Queens, between Hollis Court Boulevard and 212th Street, on October 26, 1928. Present day street view.(Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) #