Sandhog working under the East River

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Description:

In 1939 LIFE magazine sent Mydans to the East River in New York City to document the progress of the Midtown Tunnel construction. His photo essay (April 3, 1939) gives us a glimpse of the dangerous working conditions underground and the men who endured this undertaking.

Sandhogs worked in tunnels 100 feet below the surface of a river, where compressed air doubled or tripled the atmospheric pressure on their bodies and where the noise of drilling and blasting was multiplied as it bounced back from the iron tunnel walls.

Date Made: 1939

Photographer: Mydans, Carl

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: United States: New York, New York City

See more items in: Work and Industry: Photographic History, Photography, Carl Mydans

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 2005.0228.054Accession Number: 2005.0228Catalog Number: 2005.0228.054

Object Name: photograph

Physical Description: paper (overall material)Measurements: overall: 14 in x 9 1/2 in; 35.56 cm x 24.13 cm

Metadata Usage: CC0

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ab-ecf2-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_1303318

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