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William Williams

@professorwilliams3

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Photographer, curator, visual historian, professor @professorwilliams3

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Happy to have received word from Laura Stroffolino, Curator of Picture and Print Collection at the Free Library Philadelphia main branch that the photograph from the limited edition of Party Pictures is on display in the cases inside the Print and Picture Collection. Just look for the image of the women with big hair in the installation photograph. It’s part of a recent acquisitions for the Photography Collection Show. The cases inside PIX can be seen whenever PIX is open—typically MTWF 9-5 and Th 9-3 – but it can be closed for class visits/meetings, etc. copies of the trade edition and the limited edition are available at the Print Center Philadelphia store. @theprintcenter @freelibrarypix by @professorwilliams3

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2 years ago

A bountiful July day is made all the more playful with irrigation patterns adding something sculptural to the ever changing patterns of shapes in the landscape. #summervibes☀️ #greenery #gardens #irregation by @professorwilliams3

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The American railroad industry played a significant role in standardizing timekeeping practices. In 1883, railroads in the United States adopted a set of uniform time zones, known as "Standard Time", to ensure consistent schedules. As a result, railroad pocket watches needed to adhere to strict accuracy standards. These pocket watches were required to be precise, reliable, and easily readable. They featured a number of characteristics to ensure accuracy, including high-quality movements, lever escapements, and adjustments for temperature and isochronism. They were typically housed in sturdy cases made of materials like gold or silver to withstand the rigors of railroad work like the ones pictured. #americanpocketwatch #railroadwatch #hamiltonwatch #southbendwatchco #horology by @professorwilliams3

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David Freese, a Philadelphia area based photographer has spent four decades providing visuality to Climate Change through his site specific photographs. The recent severe weather over the past two weeks in our area featured successive heat waves of 90 to 100 degrees and multiple wind sheers that downed tress and heavy downpours of rain caused flooding in our region. In 2022 David had a one person show at Haverford College’s Jane Lutnick Fine Arts Center’s Atrium Gallery. His exhibition was divided into three sections, which corresponded to his three books: West Coast: Bering to Baja; East Coast: Arctic to Tropic; and Mississippi River: Headwaters and Heartland to Delta and Gulf, which together detail the changing landscape of the Northern Hemisphere. He focused specifically on how Climate Change has impacted water features, such as glaciers, harbors, and rivers. Several of his photos capture energy facilities, such as power plants and coal facilities, thus providing a commentary on the worsening contributors to climate change. He also give a Distinguished Visitor Lecture that same year at Haverford, that complimented the same themes in his photographs in which he provided an over arching philosophy of cause and effect resulting in atmospheric temperature change and its effects on weather. @dfreesephoto #dronephotography #documentaryphotographer #climatechangephotography #fineartphotography by @professorwilliams3

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by @professorwilliams3

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Looking through my archives, I discovered this set of 1995 color negatives of the Gate Way Arch that were never printed and only existed as contact prints. The Gate Way Arch stands at 630 feet; and it is the highest monument erected in the Western Hemisphere. The arch was originally constructed as a symbol of the westward expansion of the US set forth by President Jefferson and his Corps of Discovery led by Lewis and Clark, who set up camp near the arch. It also marks the boundary between Free and Slave States on the Mississippi River. The Gateway Arch has become both an icon of St. Louis, Missouri, and an iconic work of American architecture and engineering. Before completion of Jefferson Expansion Park, a competition for the design of the central monument, was announced in 1944. The project was awarded to Eero Saarinen, who would later design the Washington Dulles Airport in Washington D.C and TWA Flight Center in New York. His initial design was chosen unanimously by the judges and would be Saarinen’s first independent project. He died before the arch was completed in 1965. #stlouisarch #eerosaarinen #americanmonument #dredscottcase #midwestlandscape @professorwilliams3 by @professorwilliams3

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This evening a rain shower accompanied by powerful winds past through. Small branches and leaves were deposited on the ground. The most significant big tree damaged was a branch from the American Walnut. It was broken off and pushed by the wind 50. feet from the tree. Glad that I was not there when it happened. by @professorwilliams3

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The great August Sander exhibition, Men of the 20th Century at the Yale Art Gallery closed on June 26, 2026. I found myself reflecting on the experience of that exhibition by looking back at Sander’s influential book Anlitz Der Zheit published in 1929. It was reviewed in 1931 by Walker Evans in Hound and Horn magazine. In ‘The Reappearance of Photography”, Evans noted: “Antlitz der Zeit is more than a book of “type studies”; a case of the camera looking in the right direction among people. This is one of the futures of photography foretold by [Eugène] Atget. It is a photographic editing of society, a clinical process; even enough of a cultural necessity to make one wonder why other so called advanced countries of the world have not also been examined and recorded.”. The text panel at the beginning of the exhibition at the Gallery stated: “His inclusion of marginalized groups, including people with disabilities and the unemployed, reflected his belief in the value of each member of humanity. In 1936 the National Socialist regime destroyed an early version of his work; nevertheless, Sander continued to photograph during and after World War II, adding portraits of foreign workers, persecuted German Jews, political prisoners (with images smuggled out of jail by his son Erich), and uniformed Nazis.” The exhibition panel is referring to the confiscation, and destruction of the printing plates, and the burning of copies of Anlitz Der Zeit. A prospectus was included with this copy of the book outlines the intention of the publisher to issue portfolios of original prints. It states: “The author and publisher believe that there are not a small number of people in today’s Germany who, with the publication of ‘Men of 20th Century’ believe this is an important service. We ask interested parties for August Sanders’ work to contact the publisher now so that they can receive an invitation to subscribe to the larger publication of ‘Men of the 20th Century’… The complete work is built up in seven groups that correspond to the existing social order, and will be composed of about 45 folders each.”.12 photographs will be published by Sander starting from the peasant, the earth by @professorwilliams3

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Great Friends Meeting House located at 30 Marlborough Street was built in 1699 with editions in 1705, 1729, 1807, 1857. The Architectural Style is one that can best be described as Postmedieval English Vernacular. It was a constructed as a place of worship for the Quakers also know as the Society of Friends. Quakers were one of the most influential of Newport’s early congregations. They believed all were equal in the eyes of God because the presence of God dwells in everyone through the “Inner Light.” Quaker women held their own Meeting. These meetings gave them freedom in worship, business, and community affairs. The Great Friends Meeting House was enlarged to accommodate the needs of the growing Women’s Meeting and congregation at-large.In the mid-18 century, the Quakers were moving towards the idea that slavery was immoral, in spite of Newport’s and many Quakers’ strong financial connection to the transatlantic slave trade. By the 1760s the Quakers began taking a stronger stand against the practice by disowning members who owned slaves. By 1776 manumission, or freeing, of enslaved people within the Quaker congregations in New England was required, but some Quakers were slow to comply. Newport’s Quaker population declined during the American Revolution and the site was used by occupying troops. After the war, despite a small local Quaker population, the building was altered and expanded in 1807 and 1857 to meet the needs of the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends. The Meeting House was sold in 1922 to the Community Center Association and converted into a recreation center. “The Rec,” as it was called, was central to Newport’s Black community in the 20th century. In 1967, the Wright Family of Jamestown purchased and restored the property, a process completed under the supervision of architect Orin M. Bullock. The restored building was then gifted to the Newport Historical Society. Captain Paul Cuffe (1753-1817) would have attended this Meeting House for worship and for Quaker business. He would have also been in Newport to conduct business related to his shipping and mercantile concerns. #paulcuffee #quakerhistory #newportri #africanamericanhistory by @professorwilliams3

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Remembering Prince Griswold Crosley this 4th of July week. Prince Griswold Crosley (1754-1818) is buried in the Ancient Section of Duck River Cemetery, where burials began in 1676. There are markers for 40 Revolutionary War veterans. Prince Crosley is the only African American with a marker, which was erected and dedicated during Memorial Day 2024 . His memorial stands behind gravestones marking the burial places of his sister Margaret Crosley Lewia and his brother-in-law Lewis Lewia, his niece Eunice Lewia, and his great nephew. His biographic sketch posted on the Sons of the American Revolution reads as follows: “African American Patriot Prince Crosley, who was enslaved to Deputy Governor Matthew Griswold of Lyme, Connecticut, sold to Samuel Platt of New Milford, and he later enlisted as a Revolutionary War soldier to obtain his freedom. Prince Crosley of North Milford enlisted as a Private on August 8, 1777, in the Seventh Regiment, Connecticut Continental Line, and served for three years, being discharged August 5, 1780. The Seventh Regiment “in Sept. [1777] was ordered, under Gen. McDougall, to join Washington’s army in Penn. Fought at Germantown, Oct. 4, ’77, and suffered some loss. Wintered at Valley Forge, ’77-’78, and on June 28th following present at battle of Monmouth. Encamped during the summer at White Plains, and assigned to Huntington’s Brigade. Wintered ’78-’79 at Redding. In summer of ’79 served on east side of the Hudson in Gen. Heath’s wing. Its Light Co. under Capt. Chamberlain detached to Meigs’ Light Regt., and engaged in storming of Stony Pont, July 15, ’79. Wintered at Morristown huts, ’79-’80, and in following summer Regt., and engaged in storming of Stony Pont, July 15, ’79. Wintered at Morristown huts, ’79-’80, and in following summer served with the main army on the Hudson.” “. The first photograph was made during an Artist-in-Residency at the Florence Griswold Museum in 2024 and the second is of Crosley’s Witness Stone installed near his place of enslaved at Black Hall at the Griswold Estate in Old Lyme. #duckrivercemetery #flogrismuseum #witnessstonesproject #blackveteran #revolutonarywar by @professorwilliams3

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Captain Paul Cuffe (1754-1817) became a convinced member of the Quakers (Society of Friends) because of their stand against slavery. In 1808 Paul Cuffe was welcomed into membership in the local Meeting of the Quakers in nearby Westport, Massachusetts. The War of 1812 with Britain brought maritime trade to a standstill in the US. Cuffe turn to other activities among them, as an Elder of The Westport Meeting, he oversaw and raised the funds for a new Meetinghouse completed in 1813. The following year when the neighboring Little Compton Meeting House was seriously damaged by a storm, he played a similar role in mobilizing support among the members of the Westport Meeting to assist with the repairs of the Little Compton Meeting. The same builder, Thomas Stoddard of Little Compton, who was engaged to build the Westport Meeting House was hired to make the repairs on the Little Compton Meeting House. The well preserved Burial Ground at the rear of the Meeting House provides a view of the changing ways Friends memorialized their dead from a simple unmarked stone to a carved marker beginning in the mid- 19th Century. Little Compton Meeting House is no longer active and is managed by Little Compton Historical Society. There is a sign on the stone wall that provides a history of the building. The year 1815 is noted in the long history of this two story shingle Meeting House. My visit to to this site is to witness another example of Paul Cuffe’s Quaker faith and philanthropy. #paulcuffee #littlecomptonhistoricalsociety #quakermeetinghouse #blackhistory #westportmeeting by @professorwilliams3

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Remembering Captain Paul Cuffe (1759-1817) on the Fourth of July. Paul Cuffe, the son of an African father and a Native American woman was at the time of his death one of the richest men in America. Cuffe and his brother were merchant mariners who were also philanthropists; they supported Black causes and used their wealth to this end. Cuffe later in his life became a convinced Quaker and elder at his meeting. When the old Meeting House needed to be rebuilt in 1813 Cuffe was on the building committee and contributed the largest sum needed to rebuild it. Approaching the Meeting House from Main Street one sees a monument erected near the front of the Meeting House dedicated to Cuffe’s memory. His Great Grandson Horatio P. Howard said at its dedication: “I am pleased beyond expression at the splendid gathering here today. By the erection of this lasting memorial, I hope to awaken and stimulate energy and ambition in the rising generation of Negro youth that they may profit thereby.” on June of 1913 during Juneteenth. It was placed in its location so that it can be seen from the road as I saw it after driving up from New Haven. The monument strikingly simple in concept, bears these words: “Patriot, Navigator, Educator, Philanthropist, Friend, A Noble Character.” It was designed by Samuel T. Rex of New Bedford and Howard. It is sculpted from blue Westerly granite. (Rex Monumental Works is still in operation today.) The graves of Cuffe and his wife Alice are buried in the old section of the Burial Ground to the rear of the Meeting House. Their grave site is marked by simple head stones, which are not typical of Quaker burials at that time. I found this grouping of site specific monuments to be deeply moving in their simplicity. #paulcuffee #westportmeeting #juneteenth #mahistory #newengland by @professorwilliams3

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22 days ago