Press Release nr99-22
Press Release · Tuesday, November 3, 1998

Washington, DC

Washington, D.C. . . Breathtaking views of the American West; nostalgic images of rural America; anguished portraits of urban blight; and snapshots of Americans at work and at play, taken from the eye of famous and anonymous photographers are all included in a major exhibition entitled, "Picturing the Century: 100 years of Photography at the National Archives." The free exhibition opens on March 13, 1999, in the National Archives Circular Gallery. This is the first time in 20 years that the National Archives and Records Administration has showcased its priceless collection of more than 8 million photographs. The free exhibition will be on display through July 4, 2001. The National Archives Building is located on Constitution Avenue, between 7th and 9th Streets, NW, Washington, DC.

Celebrating the end of the century, this unique photographic exhibition chronicles the major events of the last 100 years -- immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, the Wright Brothers' first flight, construction of the Empire State Building, Depression-era soup lines, Omaha Beach, the mushroom cloud, Lyndon Johnson taking the Presidential oath, U.S. Marines in Da Nang, footprints on the Moon, and war in the Persian Gulf. Some of these images are so famous that they are seared in our collective memory and have become synonymous with the events themselves. Other photographs offer us surprise historical glimpses from the past, and still others chronicle the changing technological landscape over the century.

Highlights of the 190 pictures include four vintage, signed originals by Ansel Adams; Lewis Hines' images of small children working on farms and in factories; Depression-era rural poverty seen through Dorothea Lange's camera lens; and Yoichi Okamoto's revealing candid photographs of President Lyndon Johnson.

A catalogue, published in conjunction with the University of Washington Press, will be available in March of 1999.

For additional PRESS information, please contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (301) 837-1700 or by e-mail.

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