History

Fairfax County, Virginia, circa 1926. "Freeman House Store -- Vienna, Va." A historic structure that figured in the Civil War. Our title comes from a retail detail. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

1914. "Kitten in costume with bowling ball and pins." And, if memory serves, an omen of the impending Apocalypse. Photo by Harry W. Frees. View full size.

Reporters Without Borders recently published Press Freedom Index for 2013 takes into account many issues of journalistic liberty, ranging from restrictive legislation to violence against journalists. Unlike the Press Freedom Index from 2012, which in many cases reflected dramatic political developments of the “Arab Spring”, this year’s index is “a better reflection of the attitudes and intentions of governments towards media freedom in the medium or long term”, according to the authors of the report. But while some countries have experienced dramatic changes since 2012, the overall pattern remains much the same.This post is from GeoCurrents

Rob and Laura redux: Another glimpse of Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke on the "Dick Van Dyke Show" set in 1963. Photo by Earl Theisen for the article "America's Favorite TV Wife" in Look magazine. View full size.

Circa 1908. "The Boulevard, Potomac Park, Washington, D.C." Various national landmarks in a strikingly uncrowded capital. 8x10 glass negative. View full size.

An article by Harvey Butler from the Twin Anniversary Edition of the Sandusky Register and Star News, from November 24, 1947 reported that in 1884, there were more than four hundred telephones in operation in Sandusky, Ohio. Four operators worked to handle all the connections from those phones. From the early part of the twentieth century until about 1922, there were two telephone companies in Sandusky. The Central Union Telephone was located on Washington Row, and the Sandusky Telephone Company was on the fourth floor of the Kingsbury Block (Columbus Avenue and Washington Row). There were two exchanges at that time. Central Union Telephone customers used the Bell exchange, and the Sandusky Telephone Company used the Harrison Exchange. Dr. Henry Graefe’s listing in the 1919 Sandusky City Directory had two phone numbers, so that customers from either company could contact his office. His phone numbers were: Bell Main 75 and Harrison 57. About 1921, the Central Union Telephone Company changed its name to the Ohio Bell Telephone Company. By 1923, there was only one telephone company in Sandusky, the Ohio Bell Telephone Company. These switchboard operators were working at Ohio Bell in 1930. Information posted on this picture states that in 1930 there were 75 switchboard operators who handled 45,000 calls from 9,700 Sandusky subscribers. In 1984, Ohio Bell became a part of Ameritech, which later became SBC/AT&T. Of course, millions of individuals all over the world now use cell phones. On several occasions the Ohio Telephone Pioneers, a non-profit organization made up telephone employees and retirees, held their annual meeting at Cedar Point.

Cover of Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes published by The Museum of Modern Art As the leader of the International Style, the Swiss-born, Paris-based architect Le Corbusier had the rare opportunity to build on three continents at a time when airplanes were still a new method of transportation. Because the architect behind the Villa Savoye employed signature elements in widespread locations throughout the world, some say he blanketed the world with one style of architecture. His various projects do share some universal elements, but this one-style-fits-all opinion of Le Corbusier’s work oversimplifies his approach—place indeed affected practice. MoMA’s new exhibition catalogue, Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes, by guest curator Jean-Louis Cohen and MoMA’s Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, Barry Bergdoll, looks beyond the superficial qualities of Le Corbusier’s buildings and into the place and culture in which they were created. Structured as an atlas, the book offers a unique way to explore the life and work of one of the most important visionaries of our time. As Cohen explains, “the idea of a Corbusian atlas can be understood in its most literal sense, as a mapping of places lived, observed, drawn, designed, and built by Le Corbusier.” In addition to providing a visual perspective for exploring Le Corbusier’s extensive contributions to architecture, the maps geographically organize essays from over 30 of the foremost scholars of his work. Included with the essays are over 400 vivid illustrations including vintage and contemporary photographs, drawings, plans, watercolors, sketches, and much more. Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes" /> Map from Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes" /> Map from Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes" /> Map from Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes" /> Map from Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes Through this lens of a “Corbusian atlas,” readers gain a new perspective on Le Corbusier as an architect, interior designer, artist, writer, photographer, city planner, and a man who had dynamic and complex relationships with the physical environments he encountered. According to Bergdoll, Le Corbusier viewed “building as a type of viewing device for the landscape beyond it, a means, therefore, of making the landscape into an object of contemplation.” Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret). Unité d’habitation, Marseille. 1945–52. Roof terrace. Photograph. 2012. © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris/FLC. Photo © Richard Pare The architect himself once said, “a site or a landscape does not exist—except as our eyes see it. The idea therefore is to make it visibly present, choosing the best of the whole or parts of it.” Download a free sample of Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes, available exclusively from the MoMA Stores now through July, and be sure to visit the exhibition, on view through September 23, in the sixth-floor galleries.

Drosera capensis"> I’ve remembered to label my Drosera capensis with italics.

In my mind, I have a picture of the Acropolis Museum celebrating its birthday – perhaps in a big party to which all the other museums are invited. Each year, it excitedly waits in hope of a giant cake in the shape of the Elgin Marbles – but it never arrives & it is left to celebrate on its own, hoping that the next year will be better. Don’t get me wrong – it is still an amazing museum & should be on the itinerary of any visitor to Athens. But, to jump back to the previous analogy, if it was a cake, it would only have half the icing on – there are patches everywhere with no icing, and everyone wonders when these bits will be finished. From: Greek Reporter Acropolis Museum’s 4th Anniversary By Christina Flora on June 18, 2013 The Acropolis Museum opened its gates when the great economic crisis started affecting Greece. But it had the luck to be embraced by the Greek and international public, giving it the chance to operate for four years without public subsidy. The Acropolis Museum celebrates its fourth birthday with optimism for the future. On Thursday, June 20, the exhibition venue and the restaurant will remain open from 8am to midnight, while admission will be reduced to three euros for everyone. Visitors to the museum will have the opportunity to discover along with the museum’s archaeology – carers, the hidden stories of the surviving blocks of the frieze with three-dimensional presentations on specific screens that will be placed in the Parthenon Gallery. On the same evening, at 9 p.m., the Philharmonic Wind Orchestra of Athens will take visitors in the courtyard on a musical tour with beloved melodies from the world repertoire. Furthermore, the Museum will launch in its shops two commemorative copies of sculptures, the head of Poseidon and the head of Artemis from the east frieze of the Parthenon.

Berlin’s Pergamnon Museum has been the subject of various restitution requests from countries such as Turkey. Not for the first time though, Germany is trying to turn the whole situation on its head, by clamouring for the return of some of the artefacts from its museums that were taken by Russia. This approach would be fine – but for as long as it ignores the requests for restitution of items such as the Pergamon Altar, they shouldn’t expect other countries to have too much sympathy with their predicament. It has to be added though – that Russia’s behaviour has hardly been exemplary either. Particularly in its attempts to deliberately highlight just how many artefacts they managed to illegally acquire from Germany. From: Independent Mary Dejevsky Tuesday 18 June 2013 The Pergamon Museum offers a pointed message from Berlin to Russia – give our treasures back Briefly in Berlin, I took time out to visit the Pergamon Museum, which houses –among many, many antiquities, the remains of the great temple and its altar. If you’re at all queasy about how the Elgin Marbles reached the British Museum and why they are still there, you should probably give the Pergamon temple a miss. Otherwise, it is one of the great relics of the ancient world, rescued – or looted, depending on your view – for the delectation and education of more northerly Europeans. There are, though, good reasons why – despite any misgivings – it’s worth going. One is that the Pergamon Museum is part of a grand, and still growing, ensemble that occupies Museum Island just a short distance from the Reichstag. Clustering so many grand collections together, rather than scattering them around the city in the name of regeneration, provides a magnificent monument to high culture that is unique to Berlin. Another is for what it says about the practicalities of German reunification. Much of the island, which is in the former East Berlin, is in the throes of extensive restoration. And all the wraps, noise and excavations, along with the empty spaces before you cross to the island, are a reminder of how much remains to be done to knit the city together more than 20 years after reunification. Each time I go to Berlin, the disparities between west and east – in shops, building quality and overall feel – are less conspicuous. But the scale of the task to fill in the empty middle was, and is, enormous. And, third, for all the Checkpoint Charlie memorabilia, it’s hard now to remember that the East was not just walled in, but under Russian occupation – unless you go to Treptow Park, where the vast Russian war memorial still stands. Elsewhere, Russian traces are mostly gone, including from the Pergamon Museum, where the information boards are now in German and English, and sometimes in Turkish, but not Russian. Except for one. On the first wall, there is a summary of how the remains of the temple came to be in Berlin. They were, it says, displayed in Berlin until 1943, when they were taken to Russia. They were returned in 1958, unlike – the notice goes on pointedly – many other stolen artefacts. This board is in German, English and Russian – the only Russian, so far as I could see, in the whole museum. The hope presumably is that Russian tourists – of whom there are many – will take the message home.