.
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![Image, Source: b&w film copy neg. of print]()
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Scrap and salvage depot, Butte, Montana (detail): photo by Russell Lee, October 1942 (Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress)
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![http://www.oac.cdlib.org/affiliates/images/omca/omca_LNG36014.2_1_2.jpg]()
San Francisco Social Security Office: photo by Dorothea Lange, 1937 (Dorothea Lange Collection, Oakland Museum of California)
![http://www.oac.cdlib.org/affiliates/images/omca/omca_LNG34008.1_1_2.jpg]()
Thirteen Million Unemployed Fill the Cities (Unemployed men, San Francisco): photo by Dorothea Lange, 1937 (Dorothea Lange Collection, Oakland Museum of California)William Carlos Williams (1883-1963): Porous, 1938, from Poems 1936-1939 (1939)
William Carlos Williams: two from Sour Grapes
![photo]()
Field of daisies and orange flowers, possibly hawkweed, Vermont: photo by John Collier, June 1943 (Library of Congress)William Carlos Williams: Daisy, 1921
![File:A Gaenseblume3.JPG]()
Daisy (Bellis perennis): photo by Friedrich Böhringer, 2007
William Carlos Williams: Arrival, 1921
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East Side Interior: Edward Hopper, etching, 1922; image by Thomas Shahan 3, 20 August 2011 (Whitney Museum of American Art)
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Evening Wind: Edward Hopper, etching, 1921; image by Thomas Shahan 3, 30 November 2011 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York)
William Carlos Williams: The Thing, 1948
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Student life in Radcliffe dormitory: photo by Lynn Miller, n.d., c. 1960s (Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America)
![TELEPHONE SERVICE BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS 10/01/1930 p. 9]( "TELEPHONE SERVICE BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS 10/01/1930 p. 9")
Bell Telephone System advertisement for telephone service: Better Homes and Gardens, 1 October 1930 (Gallery of Graphic Design)
![TELEPHONE SYSTEM LIFE 12/12/1938 p. 14]( "TELEPHONE SYSTEM LIFE 12/12/1938 p. 14")
Bell Telephone System advertisement for telephone systems: Life, 12 December 1936 (Gallery of Graphic Design)
![TELEPHONE SERVICE TIME 06/15/1942 p. 8]( "TELEPHONE SERVICE TIME 06/15/1942 p. 8")
Bell Telephone System advertisement for telephone service: Time, 15 June 1942 (Gallery of Graphic Design)
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![File:Petunia Hybrida Sweet Sunshine lilac.jpg]()
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Bill Cosby accusers (L-R) Caroline Heldman, Lili Bernard and Victoria Valentino react after the verdict. 'I feel like my faith in humanity is restored,' Bernard told reporters. Photo @mark_makela: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 26 April 2018
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#UK Lookalikes of Britain's Prince William, Britain's Prince Harry and Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales pose for a picture in a hot-tub on the Thames to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markel in London. Photo @lealolivas #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 April 2018
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#India Models wait for their turn to walk out on the ramp during a fashion show at the Shazada Nand College in Amritsar. Photo @nanuworld #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 April 2018
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#Myanmar View of ferries travelling from capital Sittwe river port in Rakhine state near Bangladesh border. Photo @ye_aung_thu #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 April 2018
![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/8_-_AmStar_7.JPG/1024px-8_-_AmStar_7.JPG]()
Wreck of the American Star (formerly SS America), seen from the land side, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands: photo by Wollex, 2 July 2004
![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Ss_america_under_construction.gif]()
Hull of the SS America under construction at Newport News, Virginia: photographer unknown, 1938 (US Maritime Commission / Library of Congress)
![http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/fsa/8b09000/8b09300/8b09308v.jpg]()
Shipbuilding. Newport News, Virginia. A small section of the shipyard, showing an overhead travelling ("Gantry") crane in the foreground. There are two lanes on which ships are being built visible in the picture. The ship at far background is the S.S. America: photo by Alfred T. Palmer, October 1941 (Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress)
![http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/fsa/8b09000/8b09300/8b09325v.jpg]()
Newport News, Virginia. General view of the fitting and repair slips at Newport News, Virginia. The S.S. America can be seen in the background. The ship in the adjacent slip is a tanker: photo by Alfred T. Palmer, October 1941 (Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress)
![http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/gsc/5a05000/5a05300/5a05332r.jpg]()
S.S. America, United States Lines, Ballroom I: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator (the New York modernist interior decorating firm of Miriam Smyth, Anne Urquhart and Dorothey Marckwald were the first female interior designers of an ocean liner): photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc. (Samuel Gottscho/William Schleissner), 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
![http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/gsc/5a05000/5a05300/5a05335r.jpg]()
S.S. America, United States Lines, Barroom I: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
![http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/gsc/5a05000/5a05300/5a05336r.jpg]()
S.S. America, United States Lines, Barroom II: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
![http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/gsc/5a05000/5a05300/5a05348r.jpg]()
S.S. America, United States Lines, Smoking room, looking to bar: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
![http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/gsc/5a05000/5a05300/5a05349r.jpg]()
S.S. America, United States Lines, Smoking room, looking to mural: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
![http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/gsc/5a05000/5a05300/5a05350r.jpg]()
S.S. America, United States Lines, Smoking room, end detail: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
![http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/gsc/5a05000/5a05300/5a05367r.jpg]()
S.S. America, United States Lines, Swimming pool: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
![http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/gsc/5a05000/5a05700/5a05792r.jpg]()
S.S. America, United States Lines, Shopping centre I: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
![http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/gsc/5a05000/5a05700/5a05789r.jpg]()
S.S. America, United States Lines, Desk detail, Suite U49: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
![OCEAN LINER TRAVEL TIME 08/17/1953 p. 1]()
United States Lines advertisement: Time, 17 August 1953 (via Gallery of Graphic Design)
Returned to the United States Lines and converted back to civilian service on 31 August 1946, the Americacontinued to carry passengers between New York and Europe into October 1964, when, with the advent of stiffer international competition in the transoceanic shipping business and the success of the larger, more luxurious United States, she was sold to the Chandris Line, a Greek firm, renamed Australis and operated as a passenger ship on cruises to the Far East and South Pacific into 1977. Between 1978 and 1994 the ship's condition deteriorated as she changed ownership several times. In 1993 she was renamed American Star and on New Years Eve left Greece for the last time, under tow by a Ukrainian tugboat and bound for Thailand where she was to be refitted as a five-star luxury hotel ship. Heavy North Atlantic thunderstorms broke the tow lines; the American Star was abandoned and left adrift, with the forward part of the ship aground on a sandbar; under the assault of heavy surf, within 48 hours she had broken in two just past the second funnel. Her fate entangled in negotiations between owners, towing firm and insurance companies, she was now in the hands of nature. On 6 July 1994 she was declared a total loss. In 1996 her stern section collapsed completely to port side and sank, with the bow continuing to remain intact. In November 2005 the port side of the bow section collapsed. With the remains of the ship now listing sharply, her remaining funnel detached and fell into the ocean. The hull now began to break up; by October 2006 the wreck had collapsed almost completely onto its port side. In April 2007 the starboard side collapsed, the wreck broke in half and fell into the sea, with the remains slowly disappearing beneath the waves. As of February 2012, only a few feet of the once proud liner remained above water line.
![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/American_star_vom_felsen.JPG/1024px-American_star_vom_felsen.JPG]()
Wreck of SS American Star (formerly SS America), grounded at Fuerteventura, Canary Islands: photo by Pindakas, December 2003
![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/5_-_AmStar_4_userbox_crop.JPG]()
Wreck of the American Star (formerly SS America), front view (cropped): photo by Wollex, 2 July 2004
![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/3_-_AmStar_2.JPG/1024px-3_-_AmStar_2.JPG]()
Wreck of the American Star (formerly SS America), seen from middle distance, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands: photo by Wollex, 2 July 2004
![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/SSAMSTAR06.jpg/1024px-SSAMSTAR06.jpg]()
The former SS America, now beached and disintegrating on the island of Fuerteventura: photo by Ian Pullen, September 2006
![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Fuerteventura_2007_029.jpg/1024px-Fuerteventura_2007_029.jpg]()
Shipbreaking in progress: wreck of the SS American Star: photo by Michael Wunsch, 9 August 2007
![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Bugteil_im_September_2009.jpg]()
Front section of the wrecked and sunken American Star: the last visible part of a grand old lady of the world's oceans: photo by Thomas Fietzek, September 2009
Security personnel have lunch at the Auto China 2018 motor show in Beijing. Photo Jason Lee: image via Reuters Pictures @reutersiuctures, 26 April 2018
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The disappearing jobs of yesterday: In Argentina, an umbrella fixer Photo @chatoeitan #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
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In Bulgaria, Vessela Draganova, a camera repairwoman Photo @dilkoff #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
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In India, Daya Shankar, a typist who types up legal documents Photo @sanjaykaojia07 #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
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In Bangladesh, Mohammad Joynal, an ear cleaner Photo @uz_munir #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
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In Costa Rica, a shoe maker Jesus Lopez Photo Ezequiel Becerra @chatoeitan #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
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In Bulgaria, a bookbinder Kalin Daskalov, aka StopanPhoto @dilkoff #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
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In India, Syed Zafar Shah runs a gramophone repair operatior Photo @sajjadkmr #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
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In Egypt, a darkroom technician Mohamed el-Maymony Photo @amakar #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
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In Colombia, Street clerks are experts in filling out forms, documents and even in typing letters, to help their clients with paperwork Photo @laacostacastro #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
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In Uruguay, a clockkeeper Abdel Ghaffar Photo @pdporciuncula#AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
William Carlos Williams: Porous: Six Poems, 1921-1941
![Image, Source: digital file from intermediary roll film]()
The disappearing jobs of yesterday: In Argentina, an umbrella fixer Photo @chatoeitan #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
In Bulgaria, Vessela Draganova, a camera repairwoman Photo @dilkoff #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
In India, Daya Shankar, a typist who types up legal documents Photo @sanjaykaojia07 #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
In Bangladesh, Mohammad Joynal, an ear cleaner Photo @uz_munir #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
In Costa Rica, a shoe maker Jesus Lopez Photo Ezequiel Becerra @chatoeitan #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
In Bulgaria, a bookbinder Kalin Daskalov, aka StopanPhoto @dilkoff #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
In India, Syed Zafar Shah runs a gramophone repair operatior Photo @sajjadkmr #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
In Egypt, a darkroom technician Mohamed el-Maymony Photo @amakar #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
In Colombia, Street clerks are experts in filling out forms, documents and even in typing letters, to help their clients with paperwork Photo @laacostacastro #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
In Uruguay, a clockkeeper Abdel Ghaffar Photo @pdporciuncula#AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 April 2018
William Carlos Williams: Porous: Six Poems, 1921-1941
Group of automobile crankshafts in junkyard, near Abbeville, Louisiana: photo by Russell Lee, November 1938 (Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress)
Automobile parts at junkyard, near Abbeville, Louisiana: photo by Russell Lee, November 1938 (Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress)
William Carlos Williams: Sketch for a Portrait of Henry Ford, 1939
Scrap and salvage depot, Butte, Montana (detail): photo by Russell Lee, October 1942 (Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress)
A tin bucket
full of small used parts
nuts and short bolts
slowly draining onto
the dented bottom --
forming a heavy sludge
of oil -- depositing
in its turn steel grit
Hangs on an arm
that whirls it at increasing
velocity around
a central pivot --
suddenly the handle gives
way and the bucket
is propelled through
space . . . . .
William Carlos Williams (1883-1963): Sketch for a Portrait of Henry Ford, 1939, from Matrix (November-December 1940), in Poems 1939-1944 (1944)
nuts and short bolts
slowly draining onto
the dented bottom --
forming a heavy sludge
of oil -- depositing
in its turn steel grit
Hangs on an arm
that whirls it at increasing
velocity around
a central pivot --
suddenly the handle gives
way and the bucket
is propelled through
space . . . . .
William Carlos Williams (1883-1963): Sketch for a Portrait of Henry Ford, 1939, from Matrix (November-December 1940), in Poems 1939-1944 (1944)
Scrap and salvage depot, Butte, Montana: photo by Russell Lee, October 1942 (Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress)
Scrap and salvage depot, Butte, Montana(detail): photo by Russell Lee, October 1942 (Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress)
![http://www.fulltable.com/VTS/a/accident/ca/02.jpg]()
![File:Destitute man vacant store.gif]()
Great Depression: unemployed, destitute man leaning against vacant store, San Francisco: Dorothea Lange, 1935 (Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum)
and apparent bulk
![File:Down and out on New York pier.gif]()
Great Depression: man dressed in worn coat lying down on pier, New York City docks: photo by Lewis W. Hine, 1935 (Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum)
The car plummeted off the road into a black abyss.: image byFiction Illustrated, c. 1953
William Carlos Williams: The Term, 1937
A rumpled sheet
of brown paper
about the length
of brown paper
about the length
and apparent bulk
of a man was
rolling with the
wind slowly over
and over in
the street as
a car drove down
upon it and
crushed it to
the ground. Unlike
a man it rose
again rolling
with the wind over
and over to be as
it was before.
Great Depression: man dressed in worn coat lying down on pier, New York City docks: photo by Lewis W. Hine, 1935 (Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum)
William Carlos Williams (1883-1963): The Term, 1937, from Poems 1936-1939 (1939)
William Carlos Williams: Porous, 1938
William Carlos Williams: Porous, 1938
San Francisco Social Security Office: photo by Dorothea Lange, 1937 (Dorothea Lange Collection, Oakland Museum of California)
Cattail fluff
blows in
at the bank door,
and on wings
of chance
the money floats out,
lighter than a dream,
through the heavy walls
and vanishes.
blows in
at the bank door,
and on wings
of chance
the money floats out,
lighter than a dream,
through the heavy walls
and vanishes.
Thirteen Million Unemployed Fill the Cities (Unemployed men, San Francisco): photo by Dorothea Lange, 1937 (Dorothea Lange Collection, Oakland Museum of California)
William Carlos Williams: two from Sour Grapes
Field of daisies and orange flowers, possibly hawkweed, Vermont: photo by John Collier, June 1943 (Library of Congress)
- The dayseye hugging the earth
- in August, ha! Spring is
- gone down in purple,
- weeds stand high in the corn,
- the rainbeaten furrow
- is clotted with sorrel
- and crabgrass, the
- branch is black under
- the heavy mass of the leaves --
- The sun is upon a
- slender green stem
- ribbed lengthwise.
- He lies on his back --
- it is a woman also --
- he regards his former
- majesty and
- round the yellow center,
- split and creviced and done into
- minute flowerheads, he sends out
- his twenty rays -- a little
- and the wind is among them
- to grow cool there!
- One turns the thing over
- in his hand and looks
- at it from the rear: brownedged,
- green and pointed scales
- armor his yellow.
- But turn and turn,
- the crisp petals remain
- brief, translucent, greenfastened,
- barely touching at the edges:
- blades of limpid seashell.
Daisy (Bellis perennis): photo by Friedrich Böhringer, 2007
William Carlos Williams (1883-1963): Daisy, from Sour Grapes (1921)
William Carlos Williams: Arrival, 1921
East Side Interior: Edward Hopper, etching, 1922; image by Thomas Shahan 3, 20 August 2011 (Whitney Museum of American Art)
And yet one arrives somehow,
finds himself loosening the hooks of
her dress
in a strange bedroom --
feels the autumn
dropping its silk and linen leaves
about her ankles.
The tawdry veined body emerges
twisted upon itself
like a winter wind . . . !
finds himself loosening the hooks of
her dress
in a strange bedroom --
feels the autumn
dropping its silk and linen leaves
about her ankles.
The tawdry veined body emerges
twisted upon itself
like a winter wind . . . !
Evening Wind: Edward Hopper, etching, 1921; image by Thomas Shahan 3, 30 November 2011 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York)
William Carlos Williams (1883-1963): Arrival, from Sour Grapes (1921)
Student life in Radcliffe dormitory: photo by Lynn Miller, n.d., c. 1960s (Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America)
Each time it rings
I think it is for
me but it is
not for me nor for
anyone it merely
rings and we
serve it bitterly
together, they and I
William Carlos Williams (1983-1963): The Thing, from The Clouds (1948)
I think it is for
me but it is
not for me nor for
anyone it merely
rings and we
serve it bitterly
together, they and I
William Carlos Williams (1983-1963): The Thing, from The Clouds (1948)
Bell Telephone System advertisement for telephone service: Better Homes and Gardens, 1 October 1930 (Gallery of Graphic Design)
Bell Telephone System advertisement for telephone systems: Life, 12 December 1936 (Gallery of Graphic Design)
Bell Telephone System advertisement for telephone service: Time, 15 June 1942 (Gallery of Graphic Design)
Bench, Austin, Texas: photo by Gary Gumanow, May 2012, posted 6 February 2013
![TELEPHONE SERVICE CORONET 07/01/1954 p. 7]( "TELEPHONE SERVICE CORONET 07/01/1954 p. 7")
Bell Telephone System advertisement for telephone service: Coronet, 1 August 1954 (Gallery of Graphic Design)
Bell Telephone System advertisement for telephone service: Coronet, 1 August 1954 (Gallery of Graphic Design)
William Carlos Williams: The Petunia, 1941
Purple petunia: photo by Zirguezi, 2008
Purple!
for months unknown
but forthe barren sky.
A purple trumpetfragile
as our hopesfrom the very
sand saluting us.
for months unknown
but forthe barren sky.
A purple trumpetfragile
as our hopesfrom the very
sand saluting us.
Petunia hybrid ("Sweet Sunshine"): photo by Mira, 2008
![File:Petunie Sweet Sunshine.JPG]()
Petunia hybrid ("Sweet Sunshine"): photo by 3268zauber, 2009
Petunia hybrid ("Sweet Sunshine"): photo by 3268zauber, 2009
William Carlos Williams (1883-1963): The Petunia, from Poems 1941 (1941)
Bill Cosby accusers (L-R) Caroline Heldman, Lili Bernard and Victoria Valentino react after the verdict. 'I feel like my faith in humanity is restored,' Bernard told reporters. Photo @mark_makela: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 26 April 2018
#UK Lookalikes of Britain's Prince William, Britain's Prince Harry and Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales pose for a picture in a hot-tub on the Thames to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markel in London. Photo @lealolivas #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 April 2018
#India Models wait for their turn to walk out on the ramp during a fashion show at the Shazada Nand College in Amritsar. Photo @nanuworld #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 April 2018
#Myanmar View of ferries travelling from capital Sittwe river port in Rakhine state near Bangladesh border. Photo @ye_aung_thu #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 April 2018
The Wreck of the American Star
Wreck of the American Star (formerly SS America), seen from the land side, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands: photo by Wollex, 2 July 2004
In abjection after all those variously profitable for various operators years fallen into hands of Greekinvestors brokedown N Atlantic sprinter w/High Am-Imperial art deco bar and smoking room thorobred now forced much as balky work horseonto storm wrackedcourse in red weather. Second attempt at passage back out into Atlanticinterrupted -- propeller screwshot, captain restive. The drivenhulk broughtnear the parlousshore. Abrupt uplift coming agroundon the sandbar.The pounding relentlesswaves, the ship breakingimminent, futility of whole enterprise apparent now toward endof one-hundred-day tow, crewchopperedout, Ukrainetug detached from towline; natureleft to recover its own rustingrejectamenta, gullperched on remnant of funnel uninterestedly looking on.
Hull of the SS America under construction at Newport News, Virginia: photographer unknown, 1938 (US Maritime Commission / Library of Congress)
Shipbuilding. Newport News, Virginia. A small section of the shipyard, showing an overhead travelling ("Gantry") crane in the foreground. There are two lanes on which ships are being built visible in the picture. The ship at far background is the S.S. America: photo by Alfred T. Palmer, October 1941 (Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress)
Newport News, Virginia. General view of the fitting and repair slips at Newport News, Virginia. The S.S. America can be seen in the background. The ship in the adjacent slip is a tanker: photo by Alfred T. Palmer, October 1941 (Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress)
S.S. America, United States Lines, Ballroom I: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator (the New York modernist interior decorating firm of Miriam Smyth, Anne Urquhart and Dorothey Marckwald were the first female interior designers of an ocean liner): photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc. (Samuel Gottscho/William Schleissner), 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
S.S. America, United States Lines, Barroom I: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
S.S. America, United States Lines, Barroom II: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
S.S. America, United States Lines, Smoking room, looking to bar: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
S.S. America, United States Lines, Smoking room, looking to mural: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
S.S. America, United States Lines, Smoking room, end detail: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
S.S. America, United States Lines, Swimming pool: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
S.S. America, United States Lines, Shopping centre I: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
S.S. America, United States Lines, Desk detail, Suite U49: Eggers & Higgins, architect, Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, decorator: photo by Gottscho-Schleissner, Inc., 3 August 1940 (Gottscho-Schleissner Collection, Library of Congress)
United States Lines advertisement: Time, 17 August 1953 (via Gallery of Graphic Design)
Returned to the United States Lines and converted back to civilian service on 31 August 1946, the Americacontinued to carry passengers between New York and Europe into October 1964, when, with the advent of stiffer international competition in the transoceanic shipping business and the success of the larger, more luxurious United States, she was sold to the Chandris Line, a Greek firm, renamed Australis and operated as a passenger ship on cruises to the Far East and South Pacific into 1977. Between 1978 and 1994 the ship's condition deteriorated as she changed ownership several times. In 1993 she was renamed American Star and on New Years Eve left Greece for the last time, under tow by a Ukrainian tugboat and bound for Thailand where she was to be refitted as a five-star luxury hotel ship. Heavy North Atlantic thunderstorms broke the tow lines; the American Star was abandoned and left adrift, with the forward part of the ship aground on a sandbar; under the assault of heavy surf, within 48 hours she had broken in two just past the second funnel. Her fate entangled in negotiations between owners, towing firm and insurance companies, she was now in the hands of nature. On 6 July 1994 she was declared a total loss. In 1996 her stern section collapsed completely to port side and sank, with the bow continuing to remain intact. In November 2005 the port side of the bow section collapsed. With the remains of the ship now listing sharply, her remaining funnel detached and fell into the ocean. The hull now began to break up; by October 2006 the wreck had collapsed almost completely onto its port side. In April 2007 the starboard side collapsed, the wreck broke in half and fell into the sea, with the remains slowly disappearing beneath the waves. As of February 2012, only a few feet of the once proud liner remained above water line.
Wreck of SS American Star (formerly SS America), grounded at Fuerteventura, Canary Islands: photo by Pindakas, December 2003
Wreck of the American Star (formerly SS America), front view (cropped): photo by Wollex, 2 July 2004
Wreck of the American Star (formerly SS America), seen from middle distance, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands: photo by Wollex, 2 July 2004
The former SS America, now beached and disintegrating on the island of Fuerteventura: photo by Ian Pullen, September 2006
Shipbreaking in progress: wreck of the SS American Star: photo by Michael Wunsch, 9 August 2007
Front section of the wrecked and sunken American Star: the last visible part of a grand old lady of the world's oceans: photo by Thomas Fietzek, September 2009