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Equitable Building Fire photograph collection

Call Number

PR 330

Date

1912, inclusive

Creator

Extent

0.16 Linear feet (1 small box)

Language of Materials

This collection is primarily visual. Any text is likely to be in English.

Abstract

This collection consists of 8 albumen photographs of the aftermath of the Equitable Building fire, which occurred on 9 January 1912.

Historical Note

The Equitable Building was the corporate headquarters of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, which was founded in 1859 by Henry Baldwin Hyde. Hyde started the company at age 25 as a small operation in a tiny office, but Equitable Life grew quickly in the decades after the Civil War, and by 1886 was the largest life insurance company in the world.

In 1870, the company opened its new home office at 120 Broadway on the corner of Cedar Street. Designed by the firm of Gilman & Kendall with consulting architect George B. Post, the Equitable Building was built on a larger scale than previous office buildings, and was among the first to use passenger elevators. Today the building is considered a major milestone in the development of the skyscraper.

On 9 January 1912, the building was destroyed by a fire that couldn't be properly contained due in part to the freezing weather. Water from the fire hoses froze quickly, and the ice impeded the efforts of the firefighters on the scene. Six people died in the fire, including FDNY Battalion Chief William Walsh. Although the building was destroyed, Equitable Life remained a viable company because their records were stored off-site, and because their vaults, holding several billion dollars in securities, stocks, bonds and cash, survived the blaze.

A new Equitable Building, designed by the architectural firm of E.R. Graham, was completed in 1915. The 38-story steel-frame building rose straight up from the street lot-line without any setbacks. It was the largest office building in the world at the time, and the last skyscraper to be constructed before building regulations were instituted in the city. The construction of the Equitable Building was an important catalyst for New York City's 1916 Zoning Resolution, the first in the country, which aimed to restrict the height and bulk of buildings and assure the penetration of light and air to the streets below. The Equitable Building was designated a New York City landmark in 1996.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of 8 albumen photographs of the aftermath of the Equitable Building fire, which occurred on 9 January 1912. The photographs show the building, firefighting apparatus, and surrounding streets encased in ice. One image shows the smoking ruins from the roof of the nearby Hanover Bank building. Each photograph has handwritten captions on the back.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Conditions Governing Use

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: Equitable Building Fire photograph collection, PR 330, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Deborah L. Davidson, 2017.

Related Materials

Other photographs of fires and firefighters can be found in PR 63 Frederick H. Smyth Collection of Fire Photographs, and in 3 volumes in PR 02 Album File: PR02-168.1, PR02-168.2, and PR02-370.

Collection processed by

Marybeth Kavanagh

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:51:24 -0400.
Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Marybeth Kavanagh.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024