Through the Eyes of the Herald
An online exhibition exploring the Herald Negative Collection
Spanning nearly eight decades, from the end of the 19th century to the mid-1970s, these photographs were acquired as a collection of hundreds of negatives. Taken by various photographers for the New Britain Herald, the collection is comprised of more than 500 individual images. They illustrate many aspects of life here in the Hardware City: politics, sports, religion, labor, education, entertainment, and even a peek into the printing room can all be seen through the eyes of local newspaper photographers. This exhibit showcases just a small selection of those photographs.
Two men pose in front of the Harlem Record Shop on Hartford Avenue, between two street parked cars. c. late 1950s-1960s
Four girls and a toddler look right past several parked cars and adults in the background towards the Mussman Bros. Hardware building on Hartford Avenue. c. 1950s
A pair of hands holding open an album page of photographs of New Britain locations, including West Main Street and the State Normal School. Date unknown.
View of Main St, looking south past H.L. Mills Hardware and Adkins Printing Co. towards First Baptist Church. c. 1894-1905
A man driving a N.&D. LaRaia horse-drawn cart with barrels in the back. c. 1910-1930
New Britain Herald typesetter or compositors at work. c. 1950s
Seen through a car window, a man sits on a stoop reading a newspaper next to street-parked cars. A woman can be seen on a balcony in the upper right. c. 1950s
New Britain Herald employees pose for the camera in the typesetting room. c. 1950s
Seven children stand in front of workbenches surrounded by woodworking tools. c. 1890-1915
Female telephone operators work a switchboard while a male employee observes. c. 1900-1910
Dozens of young boys pay baseball outdoors. Handwritten caption at the top right reads "Base Ball game at Landers Playground 1910".
Children line up in rows do exercises with dumbells while adults and children look on from a mezzanine above. c. 1880-1910
View of the back of the Russwin Lyceum with a promotional poster for Buffalo Bill's July 12th, 1916 visit, signed "Thompson 1916" in the lower right hand corner. This is one of two photos in this collection attributed to photographer Ernest W. Thompson.
Coach Tony Apisso and other New Britain High School football coaches and captains on field, September 12, 1967.
Parishoners sit in folding chairs outdoors while listening to clergy speak at the AME Zion Church groundbreaking ceremony on Country Club Rd., September 15, 1968. This is one of just two color photographs in this collection.
Three Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company employees from Local 1103 on strike wearing picket signs, October 1967.
Referee Kid Kaplan intervenes during New England Middleweight Champion Howell King vs Lightweight Joe Ghnouly boxing bouts at the Stanley Arena, October 21, 1939.
A view of Hartford Avenue including the Hartford Avenue Fruit Store and Uncle Milty's Bakery. c. 1958
Street-side view of the New Britain Train Depot. c. 1953-1962
Arthur Groth, Camille "Skip" LaPointe, Lee St. Thomas, and Peter Mellnoskas of the Hardware City Lodge Barbershop Quartet serenade barber David Christien (seated) at his retirement after 62 years of service, December 31, 1964.
Actors pose with a "Mountain Express" horse-drawn carriage with painted advertisements in front of the Lyceum theater, advertising William S. Hart in "the Toll Gate", September 1920. Hart was a renowned New Britain actor who the Herald dubbed "Charlie Chaplin's only rival".
This exhibit was made possible by the generosity of our donors:
Digitization by Gene Kulak
Lisa Baroni
James Akin
Julie Hulten
Shaelyn Amaio