New photography by Ed Pollard captured with a digital camera-2006.

Curb Service, Newport News, Virginia

Artist John Vachon (American, 1914-1975)

CultureAmerican

DateNovember 1937

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsOverall, Image: 6 1/2 × 9 3/8 in. (16.5 × 23.8 cm)
Overall, Support: 8 × 10 in. (20.3 × 25.4 cm)
Overall, Mat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Object number85.1.6

Not on view

DescriptionThis is one of a series of gelatin silver prints; FSA photographs in Virginia.

Label TextJohn Vachon American, 1914–1975 Curb service, Newport News, Virginia, November 1937 Gelatin silver print (photograph), printed 1985 At the end of 1937, America experienced what was commonly known as Roosevelt’s Recession—a setback in the economic recovery that kept unemployment rates high. John Vachon’s image of a closed business with men sitting on the curb, accompanied by an alley cat, captures the ongoing struggle to find work that confronted many Americans. Chrysler Museum purchase 85.1.6 Exhibition History"Mountaineers to Main Streets: The Old Dominion as seen through the Farm Security Administration Photographs," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, May 3 - June 16, 1985. Published ReferencesBrooks Johnson. _Mountaineers to Main Streets: The Old Dominion as seen through the Farm Security Administration Photographs_. The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA. 1985: p. 49.