100 Years of Picturing the Nation’s Business: Photographs from the Collection of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America

Some 100 photographs selected from the 25,000 photographs in Hagley’s United States Chamber of Commerce collection will be exhibited in the Visitor Center gallery starting September 8, 2012. The chamber was established in 1912 to promote the goals of business across the nation.

This exhibition, “100 Years of Picturing the Nation’s Business: Photographs from the Collection of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America,” is part of the chamber’s celebration of its 100th anniversary. Most of these photographs were taken for The Nation’s Business, the Chamber’s monthly magazine from 1912 to 1999. Digital versions of all the magazines are available on Hagley’s website.

In April, Hagley opened a version of this exhibit in the chamber’s headquarters in Washington, D. C. That display features reproductions of the photographs. The Hagley exhibit will be a rare chance to see the original prints, which were made by some of America’s most famous photographers, including Margaret Bourke-White, Lewis Hine, William Rittase, and Dorothea Lange.

Pictures include factory views, portraits, advertising, transportation, war activities, news photographs, and scenic views. Primarily black and white, they are striking documents illuminating the heritage of American business in the twentieth century.