the Empire State Building and the untold story of the craftsmen who built it Kurtz, Glenn 1962- creator text bibliography nyu 2025 monographic eng

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v, 311 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm "Who built the Empire State Building? Astonishingly, no list of workmen on this historic landmark was ever compiled. While the names of the owners, architects, and contractors are well known, and Lewis Hine left us indelible images of the workers, their identities-the last generation of workmen still practicing these time-honored trades, have not been identified until author Glenn Kurtz unearthed their individual stories for this book. Drawing on eclectic sources-census, immigration, and union records; contemporary journalism; the personal recollections of their descendants-Kurtz assembles biographies of these workers, providing not only a portrait of the building's labor force, and a revolutionary re-interpretation of Hine's world-famous photographs, but also a fundamental reimagining of what made the Empire State Building a fitting symbol for the nation, built as it was at the very height of the Great Depression. For ninety years, photographer Lewis W. Hine's iconic portraits and photographs have served as potent symbols of America in the early 1930s. Yet as famous as Hine's images are, they have never been seen in their proper historical context. By identifying the individuals that built the early skyscraper, The Spirit of the Skyscraper transforms Hine's evocative portraits from abstract symbols of an era into documentary evidence of specific, working-class, immigrant and indigenous American lives"-- Provided by publisher. Glenn Kurtz. Includes bibliographical references and index. n-us-ny Hine, Lewis Wickes 1874-1940 Empire State Building (New York, N.Y.) History Empire State Building (Nueva York, N.Y.) Historia Building trades New York (State) New York History Industria de la construcción Historia Nueva York, N.Y. (Estados Unidos) Albañilería Historia Nueva York, N.Y. (Estados Unidos) Iron and steel workers New York (State) New York History Documentary photography New York (State) New York History Fotografía documental Nueva York (Estados Unidos) 002 F 128.8 K96m 2025 Kurtz, Glenn New York City : Seven Stories Press, 2025 (DLC) 2025008093 9781644215029 (hardcover) 1644215020 (hardcover) 2025008092 DLC 250828 20260728110638.0 in00024312225 eng