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Erika Stone Photograph Collection

Call Number

PR 267

Date

[1940-1999] (Bulk 1970-1989), inclusive

Creator

Extent

0.83 Linear feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

Working as a photojouralist, Erika Stone documented New York City parades, demonstrations and street life.

Biographical Note

Born in Germany in 1924, Erika Stone came to New York in 1936 at age 12. She joined the Photo League in 1940 and, by the age of 17, she created the Bowery series, one of her first bodies of work. While she considers herself self-taught, Stone studied with Berenice Abbott and George Tice at the New School for Social Research.

Stone spent part of her career as a freelance photojournalist as well as being a stringer for both Time and Der Spiegel magazines, until 1960. After the birth of her two sons, she made photographing her family and children her specialty. She has published several books, including: Pro Techniques of Photographing Children and Mostly People: Photographs by a German Immigrant in New York.

Arrangement

Photographs are organized by subject.

Scope and Content Note

The Erika Stone Photograph Collection spans the period from the 1940s to the 1990s and primarily contains images of life in New York City. The collection, containing forty-four gelatin silver prints, is divided into the following subjects:

CENTRAL PARK includes images of people relaxing on the lawn and watching a concert at night.

CHILDREN contains two images, one portrait of a young boy sitting on a crumbling stoop, the other a boy playing in the water from a fire hydrant.

ELLIS ISLAND has photographs of both the building and new immigrants, taken in 1951. Images include a family in their room, people using the library, a group of men playing cards, a boy reading a Chinese newspaper, a sleeping area, the entrance to the dining hall and a portrait of Philip Forman, head of Ellis Island.

EVENTS is divided into three categories: Miscellaneous, Demonstrations and Parades. MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS include an image of the 1987 New York Marathon and a 1979 Veteran's Day celebration. DEMONSTRATIONS has photographs of gatherings for the environment and anti-war, anti-racism, and anti-homosexuality causes. PARADES include several unidentified parades, a Halloween Parade and a gay pride parade.

OCCUPATIONS contains photographs of a Harlem street preacher, an Orchard Street fruit peddler, an espresso cart, a carriage driver and a clown entertaining a crowd in a park.

RECREATION includes photographs of an African American man playing checkers, a group of men playing cards and a group playing basketball.

STREET SCENES contains photographs of burned out buildings in the Bronx, a German neighborhood, a group in front of the Jewelers Exchange, Rockefeller Center and Chinatown.

SUBWAY images include riders in a graffiti covered subway car and clowns entertaining a crowd in an unidentified subway station.

Access Restrictions

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

Use Restrictions

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: Erika Stone Photograph Collection, PR 267, 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.

Provenance

Forty photographs were donated by Erika Stone and four photographs were purchased by the New-York Historical Society in 2007.

Related Material at the Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections

Photographs of New York City street life from a similar time period can be found in the John Albok Photograph Collection (PR 001), the Geographic File (PR 020), the Photographer File (PR 050), the Subject File (PR 068), the Ruth Orkin Photograph Collection (PR 190) and the Andreas Feininger Collection (PR 207).

Collection processed by

Kelly McAnnaney

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:49:50 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from stone.xml

Repository

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