The Library of Congress > Collections

[Germany Schaefer, Washington AL (baseball)] (LOC)

Orphans going to Coney Island in Autos, 6/7/11 (LOC) Kiukiang Institute, Central China Mission. General view taken from City Wall. (LOC) Young "Cy" Young [Irv Young] between seasons (LOC) N.Y. Yacht Club Landing - Newport (LOC) Tripoli - Captured Arabs at Fountain of Bu Meliana (LOC) London strike. Truck under police protection (LOC) Former home of Joaquin Miller (poet), Wash., D.C. (LOC) [Germany Schaefer, Washington AL (baseball)] (LOC) [Russ Ford, New York, AL (baseball)] (LOC) [Highlander batting practice at Hilltop Park, NY (AL) (baseball)] (LOC) [Long Tom Hughes, Washington, AL (baseball)] (LOC) Maurice Roche (LOC) [Wid Conroy, Washington, AL (baseball)] (LOC) [Sherry Magee, Philadelphia, NL (baseball)] (LOC) [Fred Luderus, Philadelphia, NL (baseball)] (LOC) [James Mullin, 2nd baseman, 1909-11 (baseball)] (LOC) [William J. Bradley, Toronto (baseball)] (LOC) Jimmy Clabby. Boxing (LOC) [Grover Cleveland Alexander, Philadelphia, NL (baseball)] (LOC) [Eddie Collins, Philadelphia, AL (baseball)] (LOC)

Welcome to the daily news scene from almost a hundred years ago, as photographed by the Bain News Service in about 1910-1912. We invite your tags and comments! Also, lots more identification information. (Most of these old photos came to the Library of Congress with very little description.)

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.

The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division preserves the original photographs and offers the digital copies to ensure their wide availability.

For more information and to see the rest of the collection, visit: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/co llection/ggbain/

10,565 photos | 752,329 views



Comments on this set

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artolog  Pro User  says:

what a great set! I note that the photos are all marked as 1910, and users can't change that, even when the photo itself has a more accurate date.
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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ConceptJunkie  Pro User  says:

This is a great project and I applaud and thank the Library of Congress for combining its unique archives and the Internet to share, and possibly identify these artifacts. This is the kind of thing that can help bring value to all citizens and should be appreciated and encouraged!

I hope this project is successful and leads to more, because we can learn a lot about life in the early 20th century that we might not otherwise know.
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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_sarchi  Pro User  says:

interesting
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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Tomasz1950 says:

Thanks a lot!
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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El Gato Negro  Pro User  says:

thank you for sharing those forgotten shots...
I'm an avid fan of the Conlon collection and those are very close...
again thank you for your work...
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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Life in a Yurt says:

Wonderful photos. Thank you for sharing, and I hope you decide to share other collections with the community.
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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kightp  Pro User  says:

Suggest adding a "Bain News Service" tag to the entire batch - I'd do it myself, but I don't have time to tag 1,500 photos one by one!
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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auntialias  Pro User  says:

Fabulous!! After spending some time looking and tagging, I've a couple of suggestions for Flickr to better navigate this marvelous collection:

1. On photo set home page, the page numbers go from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ... 27 (i.e., last) I suggest you add a random page link or something to take a person into the middle sets of photos. I saw lots of tags at the beginning, but as people look, tag and then get tired, the tags trail off. Please make it easy for us to jump into it in the middle so those images aren't neglected.

2. Would love to have a feature, similar to "comments you've made" and "view your favorites" that allows a user to see photos by other people that you've tagged
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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rmcarrier1  Pro User  says:

Amazing set. Much appreciated Library of Congress.
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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Dogtrax  Pro User  says:

This is an important step -- opening up the archives to the people. My young sons will be thrilled at the prospects of viewing the old baseball images and trying to consult their research books on which players are being seen.
I think the move by the Library of Congress will also benefit students learning about time periods of our country. You are putting archives into their hands to use and learn from, and I hope you do more sharing of these treasures in the future.
Kevin
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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MaureenShaughnessy  Pro User  says:

Fantastic collection -- thank you so much for making these photos even more available to the public who may or may not know about the LOC library website. I have been writing a historical fiction novel for the last two years and have used numerous LOC photos as a jumping-off point, or inspiration for specific details of daily life in the 1800s and early 1900s. I have always appreciated that resource -- it is INvaluable(!) and now you are going the extra step to invite participation by viewers, researchers and historians. Way to go. I love your use of new technoligies. thanks again for this wonderful set of images. I, too hope you continue this project extension on Flickr and share many many more images from your archives here.
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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jj03ker says:

great
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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pennylrichardsca  Pro User  says:

I've been enjoying the Bain Collection photos at the LOC site for a year or two, but this is a terrific alternative that will reach a lot more people--thanks! It's bound to reach and teach many students.
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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cnami82 says:

Wow!
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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projecttionist65 says:

I was looking for a place o read about the baseball player with a camera - it's an absolutely fantastic photo! He looks like it's very heavy, and he's about to drop it. The fellow looking on is wearing a derby and a smile, as though he expects the same result!
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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My name's axel  Pro User  says:

Exiting stuff and a very important step in bringing historical information to everybody who has acces to the net.The LOC & Flickr took a step forward.
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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danperry.com  Pro User  says:

So glad to see this project get off the ground. Welcome to Flickr, and I hope it's the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship.
Posted 61 months ago. ( permalink )

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kurokojpn  Pro User  says:

thank you so much for sharing this with the flickr world!
Posted 60 months ago. ( permalink )

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Darco TT  Pro User  says:

Una estupenda colección.
Posted 58 months ago. ( permalink )

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cross_on8 says:

I have a huge collection of old cameras! Photos are not so beautiful like here, but there a a lot of technical photos. Look here: sitemap generator
Posted 55 months ago. ( permalink )

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coursgratuits.net says:

Thanks a lot to publish those pics, because it's very worthy pictures
Posted 54 months ago. ( permalink )

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czl  Pro User  says:

Thank you thank you thank you. It's great to see the prints & photographs division out in the world!
Posted 50 months ago. ( permalink )

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bogeyinthecellar says:

Congratulations LOC good to see a public library going really public
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

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BobMeade  Pro User  says:

To LOC people, thanks for putting these Bain Collection images on Flickr. I've had lots of enjoyment looking at the pics this past year.

Now, a few questions about the plates.

They each have a number, usually hyphenated, painted or scratched into the outer margin of the plate, which also corresponds to part of the call number.

For example, this image:

www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/3295498512/

has number

2680-3

painted/scratched into the margin and has

Call Number: LC-B2- 2680-3

This image:

www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/3294674193/

has number

2680-2

painted/scratched into the margin and has

Call Number: LC-B2- 2680-2

This image:

www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/3294674483/

has number

2680-4

painted/scratched into the margin

My questions are these:

1. Were these numbers already on the plates prior to reception by the LOC?

2. If not, and the numbers were added by the LOC, what is the numbering system? What does it signify?

3. Is it possible to search for a certain call number? For example, the three images I have used in this example seem to relate to the U. S. House of Representatives, and the U. S Senate. I am interested in viewing the plate which would seem to also belong in this series of numbering, that is 2680-1. How do I search for the plate which might be numbered 2880-1?

Thanks for your help.

Bob
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

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Flickerpower says:

Hope that the experts or amateur experts in each area can add their knowledge to these photos. It does make them so much more interesting. Who's who? What's that dial on that gadget? What was new about that canon? etc.

Thanks
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

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Lewis (LOC P&P) says:

Hello lifeasdaddy! Let me answer your questions in turn, and sorry for the delay:

1. Were these numbers already on the plates prior to reception by the LOC?

The numbers on the negatives are those of the Bain news service. The Library of Congress prefix and collection/negative series (ex. LC-B2-...) was added after the collection came to the Library.

2. If not, and the numbers were added by the LOC, what is the numbering system? What does it signify?

The numbering system may have been sequential with the suffix indicating a series taken at a specific time and/or location, but it seems that the photos in these groups are often unrelated.

3. Is it possible to search for a certain call number?

Yes. In the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) you can perform a number search with all, or part of a reproduction number. Go to PPOC here:
www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html

Change "Search in all text fields" to "Search in number fields." You will find that a search for 2680-1, however, will not return an image. It may be that there was a negative with this number, and it didn't survive when the collection came to the Library. You can read more about this collection here:

lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/ggbainhtml/ggbainabt.html

Thank you for your interest!
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

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BobMeade  Pro User  says:

Lewis of LOC, thanks very much for your answer. I didn't really consider the slight delay any problem - you may not have been expecting such a question in this section of comments to the set, but I couldn't think of a better place to ask the question publicly so everyone could benefit from your answer.

Now I know about changing to "Search in number fields." I should be able to find whatever I want for this avenue of investigation, except in this case of course where you have already determined that 2680-1 does not exist.

Thanks, Lewis!
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

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Photogeraphar 0345-3333888  Pro User  says:

Lewis of LOC, thanks very much for your answer. I didn't really consider the slight delay any problem - you may not have been expecting such a question in this section of comments to the set, but I couldn't think of a better place to ask the question publicly so everyone could benefit from your answer.
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

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Flussreiter says:

A fantastic collection!
Posted 14 months ago. ( permalink )

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hollyjean380 says:

I found a wonderful image of the casting of the Women's Suffrage Bell, also known as the Justice Bell through the Library of Congress, courtesy of the collection. I would like to find out more about the image and Bain News Service. Can anyone out there help?
Posted 5 weeks ago. ( permalink )

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artolog  Pro User  says:

hollyjean380, see notes under this image:
Casting the Suffrage "Liberty Bell" at Troy (LOC)
Posted 5 weeks ago. ( permalink )

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