Primary Source: C.G. Hine’s Broadway
Event Details:
Photography can be an act of preservation. In 1905, the amateur photographer C.G. Hine documented life on Broadway from its southernmost to northernmost point, recording its stores, homes, theaters, vendors, plants, and street life. Hine assembled three albums of his photographs, to which he added contemporary newspaper clippings and a lengthy descriptive essay. He called the albums, “New York: From the Sky Scraper to the Wild Flower.” The title gestured at the tension between the natural and built environment, visible throughout Hine’s work.
Hine gifted the albums to The New York Historical in 1917. Historian Nicholas Yablon’s new book, From the Skyscraper to the Wildflower (Columbia University Press, 2026) offers a rich accounting of the material power of these unusual photographic albums. In conversation with curator Elizabeth D. Muller, we’ll hear from Yablon about Hine’s work and how it functions as “an experiment in history writing.” Join us to learn about these albums, Yablon’s writing process, and how his research at the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library shaped his work.
Signed books will be available for purchase starting at 6 pm in the Reading Room.
Nicholas Yablon is a Professor of History and American Studies at the University of Iowa, whose previous books are Remembrance of Things Present: The Invention of the Time Capsule (University of Chicago Press, 2019) and Untimely Ruins: An Archaeology of Urban Modernity (University of Chicago Press, 2009).
Primary Source is a series of free and public programs exploring how the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library at The New York Historical supports new research and historical inquiry. Join us in our renowned Reading Room for behind-the-scenes conversations about New York's past and present, deeply grounded in the Library's rich collections.
Location:
Patricia D. Klingenstein Library Reading Room, The New York Historical, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024
Ticket Instructions:
Online: Click the button above. If you need assistance, email libraryprogram@nyhistory.org
Chairman's Council: Email chairmanscouncil@nyhistory.org.
