Face of Blackwell’s Island

I was looking for pictures of the buildings on Blackwell’s Island so I could describe them better, and I came across a great series of pictures on the Museum of the City of New York’s image collection. The Museum’s enlargement feature is the best I’ve come across, and I was able to zoom in on and grab some clear pictures of faces.

This was the first I found. What a face, no? It’s heart-breaking because I know it almost 100% likely that nothing good came of this young man’s life after this.

Man on Blackwell's Island, 1896

Stacy Horn

I've written six non-fiction books, the most recent is Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York.

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