Mertie West walks past a construction site and towards Richmond Street, [Boston], 1947

Item Overview

Title

Mertie West walks past a construction site and towards Richmond Street, [Boston], 1947

Photographer

West, H. H. (Henry Hebard), 1872-1958

Date Created

October, 1947

Date

1947-10

Language

No linguistic content

Collection

West (H. H.) Collection

Notes

Description

According to the negative sleeve, this photographic negative was taken in Alexandria, Virginia. The street signs in this image are legible and do not match the geography of Alexandria. They correlate to the geography of Boston, which was also visited by the West's on their "Eastern trip" in October, 1947.
Photograph of Mertie West strolling down a sidewalk and approaching Richmond Street in Boston's North End. The sidewalk spans the width of the bottom edge and stretches back slightly to the left. Three large storage bins or dumpsters line the left side of the sidewalk. A fire hydrant stands near the lower right corner. Construction rubble sits off to the right side of the sidewalk. Mertie West walks in the near distance at center, away from camera. Ahead of her, other pedestrians approach Richmond Street. Signs standing on the street corner at center read, "RICHMOND ST," and "GABRIELE ROMANO SQ." On the far side of the street at left, a building with a rounded corner rises beyond the frame. Fire escapes extend from each visible side of the building. Signage for a business on the ground floor reads, "RICO'S CAFE BEER & WINES," "Harvard ALE," and Harvard BEER." Open space sits to the right of the building at left and more buildings stand in the distance at right.

Caption

Text from negative sleeve: 2372. Eastern trip October 1947 Alexandria, Va. 1 & 2 Two views of Mertie West on streets of Alexandria, Va. 3 Mertie West sitting in George Washington pew Christ Church. 4 Christ Church from rear 5 Grave of Thos West in churchyard Christ Church 6 Entrance to Carlyle House 7 Mertie West in lobby of George Washington Memorial 8 Replica of the original Lodge room presided over by George Washington, with relics. 9 Mertie West leaving the Washington Memorial, overlooking Alexandria. 10 View of Alexandria from base of Memorial

Physical Description

Extent

1 photographic negative

Medium

b&w nitrate negative

Keywords

Genre

cellulose nitrate film
black-and-white photographs

Names

West, Mertie Whitaker, 1875-1972

Location

Massachusetts--Boston

Longitude

42.363041

Latitude

-71.054227

Resource type

still image

Subjects

City & town life--Massachusetts--Boston
North End (Boston, Mass.)
Construction--Massachusetts--Boston
Sightseers--Massachusetts--Boston