Lewis Hine and the Men Who Built the Empire State Building 

Glenn Kurtz, Ph.D.

Presidential Fellow, Chapman University and Author of Three Minutes in Poland

November 16 • 7 pm
Bush Conference Center • Beckman Hall • Room 404
Chapman University

In this talk, author and Presidential Fellow at Chapman University, Glenn Kurtz explores the personal histories of the men who appear in Lewis W. Hine's iconic portraits of the men constructing the Empire State Building. For ninety years, these images have served as symbols of American labor and of America itself. Yet in all that time, no one has thought to question the identities of the men themselves, preferring to see them as anonymous heroes and Hine's portraits as autonomous artworks that celebrate abstractions—Labor, the Machine Age, the triumph of the American spirit during the Great Depression. By approaching Hine's images for the first time as documentary evidence of specific working-class, immigrant, and indigenous lives, Kurtz overturns almost a century of symbolic, aestheticized interpretations, enabling a fundamental redefinition of what makes these men, their portraits, and the Empire State Building itself, fitting symbols for the nation. 

If COVID safety protocols allow, a reception will follow the presentation. 

Admission is free.

Campus visitors are required to follow Chapman University’s COVID safety protocols, including wearing face coverings in all indoor facilities and completing a visitor health survey on the day of the event. Learn more about our safety protocols at cusafelyback.chapman.edu.

For those unable to join us on campus, the lecture will be livestreamed at: https://chapman.zoom.us/j/97065833304