Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects in New York City during the Great Depression. Aerial view of New York City as a plane flies by and clouds part to show Manhattan island below. Buildings and skyscrapers of New York City as seen from river and harbor views, with some ships and tugboats seen. Trucks on roads of Governor's Island at tip of Manhattan. An older home seen under renovation and reconstruction. View of the Brooklyn Navy Yard with WPA workers busy building and improving new roads and shops and warehouses near the docks. A bulkhead construction project is shown at Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, to reclaim land from the waters of the Bay. The work includes construction of a new Boulevard and sanitary and sewer system improvements. View of the front entrance of the Beaux Arts style Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House on Bowling Green at the tip of Manhattan. Pedestrians and WPA workers are seen in front of the building. WPA laborers on an unidentified Manhattan street (with elevated railway running in background) are busy removing old street car rail lines from the streets, in sections, and loading them into truck beds to haul away. Large public swimming pool and bath house construction projects are shown, influenced by city planner and avid swimmer Robert Moses (scene possibly shows McCarren Park pool - note archway seen under construction). WPA workers are seen building the new East River Drive, including highways, walks, and flanking parks. Construction workers seen building the roadway, with the Williamsburg Bridge in the background. A model of the project is shown with the new drive from Grand Street to 14th Street. Camera pans down from the Empire State Building to show the roof of the New York Public Library teeming with WPA workers as they remove the old corroded copper roof and replace it with a new metal roof. View of busy Manhattan streets below the workers, including a street car passing by.
Naval Battle of Santa Cruz Island in the Pacific Ocean during World War 2. View from The USS Enterprise (CV-6) during attacks by Japanese airplanes. F4F aircraft parked on her flight deck. A U.S. Destroyer is steaming aft and firing its guns. Battleship, USS South Dakota seen in distance. Black Flak bursts in the air. The Enterprise makes swerving defensive maneuvers while underway. A Japanese airplane flies overhead, aft. View from the ship's island of sailors gathered on flight deck and then running to an F4F that has collapsed with wing over antiaircraft gun positions. Sailors begin to right the airplane but abandon the deck when a bomb hits somewhere aft starboard. Smoke rising from the strike area. Enterprise making severe defensive maneuvers as her antiaircraft batteries fire. Anti-aircraft cruiser, USS San Juan CL-54, visible astern as Enterprise turns hard to starboard. Sky filled with black flak bursts. Black smoke rising from two downed Japanese aircraft in the water. Smoke drifting across the flight deck.
A poster on a wall, in Berlin Germany, announces Mobilization. German soldiers in uniforms,including Pickelhaube (spiked helmets), assemble in a courtyard. Others are assembled in a city square. where they examine and sight their rifles, while being watched by several officers, dressed in long coats and caps. Members of an Army band walk rapidly past the camera, carrying their drums and other instruments, but not playing them. Soldiers assembled in a small square, with their arms stacked. A German army officer walks rapidly past civilian recruits gathered in a large square to join the army. Soldiers stand at large tables where the recruits sign up. Berlin citizens crowd a square as war is declared in 1914. Views from a vehicle driving past a crowd gathered in front of the Berliner Dom, on Museum Island in the Mitte borough. German soldiers are keeping civilians away from a large rectangular space set aside in front of the Berliner Dom. Crowd gathered in front of the Imperial Palace on the Museum Island at Schlossplatz. Glimpse of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial. Glimpse of troops parading in formation. Glimpse of a bemedaled German Hussar officer with unidentified domed building in background. Kaiser Wilhelm II , speaks from a porch on the Imperial Palace, announces the declaration of World War 1, to an assembled crowd of citizens. Monument of Otto von Bismarck in Berlin, with the Reichstag building in the background. Troops parading through crowds of spectators in front of the Reichstag.
United States Navy flying boat Curtiss NC during the first transatlantic flight offshore Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean. Curtiss NC planes taxi on water at Trepassey bay. Ships anchored in the background. Captain Toombs of the USS Aroostook (ID-1256) greets the aviators aboard the ship. Curtiss NC-1 floats next to the ship. Steam comes from engine. A balloon is released followed by a sextant. Curtiss NC aircraft takes off. A world map shows the location of Newfoundland,the Azores,Lisbon and Plymouth island. Animation depicts two aircraft making forced landings in water and Curtiss NC-4 lands on Azores. A wrecked aircraft near the island of Horta. Lieutenant Commander Bellinger and Commander of the USS Langley (CV-1) John Henry Towers. Curtiss NC-3 floats in water.
Hamburg-American ocean liner, SS New York visits the port of Fort-de-France, in the French Caribbean island of Martinique. Three Women passengers,in swimwear, lean against the ship's railing as other passengers sun themselves lying on deck chairs on the ship's deck. The Island of Martinique can be seen in the background. Another scene shows buildings in the town of Fort-de-France. Crew members lower a tender from the ship to carry passengers to the town. View from the tender underway with crew and passengers aboard, and the SS New York seen at anchor in the background. They pass a two-masted sail boat. View of local people carrying baskets of goods on the town pier. Fish and lobster in a basket. A woman carrying a keg and package on her head. Children walking along the pier with their mother. Local women buying and selling goods. Local people conversing in what the slate calls "a peculiar French patois." Two women and two girls (one holding a doll) conversing. The Fort-de-France Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Louis de Fort-de-France) built of wood except for its steel steeple. The park of La Savane, with statue of Josephine, Empress of France, wife of Napoleon,who was born in Martinique. Passengers returning to the SS New York,climb a gangway from their tender, as local boys in small boats wait nearby for the chance to dive for coins from the passengers aboard the ship.
Streets of New York city around the turn of the 20th century, showing horse-drawn vehicles and people, in Gilded Age dress of the times, some appearing wealthy, going about their daily affairs.Transportation is primarily dependent upon the horse. A man and woman on the street pull a fire alarm and scene shifts to a firehouse with firemen responding to alarm, sliding down a pole and hitching up their horses and engines. The Horse-drawn fire engines rush down the street as spectators watch from the sidewalks. City street with merchants selling wares outside, in front of their establishments. Boys,wearing knickers (knickerbocker trowsers) playing stickball in the street. Horses pulling wagons underneath the elevated railroad train tracks, where a steam locomotive is pulling a passenger train. People gathering in front of a baseball park advertising a game between New York and Chicago. Scenes of amusements and amusement carnival rides at Coney Island. Women gather to climb aboard an open train to an amusement. Views of the "Shoot-the-Chute" concession at Luna Park, with patrons riding down the chute in boats. Women patronizing a concession that offers camel rides. The beach at Coney Island, crowded with bathers, on its sands. City dwellers cooling off in water from a fire hydrant on the city street in front of their houses.
CRITICALPAST.COM: About Us | Contact Us | FAQs - How to Order | License Agreement | My Account | My Lightboxes | Shopping Cart | Advanced Search | Featured Collections | Website Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy ©2026 CriticalPast LLC.
License Agreement |
Terms & Conditions |
Privacy Policy
©2026 CriticalPast LLC.