Men at work

Sobre el libro Men at work de Glenn Kurtz publicado por Penguin Books LTD al 2025:

The author of Three Minutes in Poland and Practicing uncovers the identifies of the Empire State Building construction workers, made famous by Lewis W. Hines legendary portraits. This little-known chapter of American labor history captures forgotten stories and unseen photos of working class, immigrant, and indigenous lives who built the architectural icon. Includes black and white photos.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 identitiesthe 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 sourcescensus, immigration, and union records contemporary journalism the personal recollections of their descendantsKurtz assembles biographies of these workers, providing not only a portrait of the buildings labor force, and a revolutionary re-interpretation of Hines 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. Hines iconic portraits and photographs have served as potent symbols of America in the early s. Yet as famous as Hines 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 Hines evocative portraits from abstract symbols of an era into documentary evidence of specific, working-class, immigrant and indigenous American lives.