Progress Photographs

For twentieth-century municipal, state and federal construction projects, progress photographs were often mandated. Generally commissioned of a professional photographer, these images typically document the building site prior to, during and after construction. Sometimes the series includes aerial photographs of the entire neighborhood. As such, they provide a significant amount of information to researchers regarding not only the building process, but also record alterations to the built environment as they happened.

The two photographs above document the upriver side of Canal Street in October 1936 and May 1957.

The first image, one in a series of 45 taken by photographer F.A. McDaniels, documents the old Charity Hospital buildings prior to their demolition. Patients line the seating areas along the right-hand side of the courtyard, the Knights of Pythias building and the Hibernia Bank building can be seen in the distance. The Pythian structure served as a temporary Charity Hospital for black patients for a two-year period between 1936 and 1938.

The second image, one in a series of  109 taken by Industrial Photos, records the construction of the main branch of the New Orleans Public Library. The Saratoga building and the Civic Center (former Knights of Pythias) building can be seen on the left, and City Hall and the Warwick Hotel can be seen on the right. Other photographs in the series record the construction of the Saratoga, City Hall, the State Supreme Court building and the 222 Loyola Avenue parking garage. Some reveal the removal of architectural ornamentation from the exterior of the old Pythian Temple Parisian Roof Garden.

First image:  F.A. McDaniels, photographer. Louisiana Charity Hospital Project. 10 October 1936. Weiss, Dreyfous & Seiferth Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Second:  Industrial Photos, 2430 Royal Street. New Orleans Public Library Main Branch. 31 May 1957. Curtis & Davis Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.