Morris Huberland Photograph Collection
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Date
Creator
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Language of Materials
Abstract
Consisting of 50 photographs taken by Morris Huberland, the images herein depict various neighborhoods in New York City during the 1940's and 1950's.
Biographical Note
Morris Huberland was born in Poland in 1909. His father, a rabbi, immigrated to New York City in 1920 by way of Le Havre. His mother, who departed Bremen in 1924 with Morris and the rest of their family, arrived in Philadelphia before settling in New York City's Lower East Side with her husband shortly thereafter.
Following in his father's footsteps, Morris spent some time studying at rabbinical school, but eventually turned his professional interests toward photography. In 1940, he joined the Photo League, citing Eliot Elisofon's lectures on photojournalism as influential to his artistic approach. From 1943 to 1945, Morris fought in World War II and continued to photograph throughout his service. Upon his return, some of these images were exhibited by the Photo League, and the artist deepened his involvement with the League by serving on its exhibition committee.
Morris continued to exhibit work into the 20th- and 21st-centuries at various New York City institutions, including: the Museum of Modern Art, the International Center of Photography, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and the Jewish Museum. Additionally, his photographs often accompanied articles published in The New York Times.
Arrangement
Photographs are arranged by print size, and are further grouped by geographic location.
Scope and Content Note
The photographs within this collection depict the social aspects of New York City street life during and after World War II. Huberland's subjects include children, workers, women, African-Americans, and social gatherings.
The collection is arranged by size and the finding aid is grouped by geographic area. These areas include: Fifth Avenue, Greenwich Village, Harlem, the Upper East and West Sides, and the Lower East Side. Photographs with unidentified locations comprise a separate group.
Titles surrounded by quotes are taken from the back of each photograph, which are handwritten in pencil and pen. A visual description of each photograph appears in brackets following the title.
Subjects
Access Restrictions
Open to qualified researchers.
Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. See guidelines in Print Room for details.
Use Restrictions
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
212-485-9228
Permission to reproduce or quote text from this collection in a publication must be requested from and granted in writing by the Library Director, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194.
The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder.
Citation
This collection should be cited as: The Morris Huberland Photograph Collection, PR 194, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Provenance
Gift of artist, 1982-84; Purchase, 1992.