1920 Wall Street Bombing Disaster NYC JP Morgan Federal Hall Glass Negatives For Sale

1920 Wall Street Bombing Disaster NYC JP Morgan Federal Hall Glass Negatives

Pair of original, historic antique 4x5 gelatin silver glass plate negatives captured on September 16, 1920: an extraordinary news archive record documenting the immediate aftermath of America\'s first catastrophic financial district terror attack: the 1920 Wall Street Bombing at the intersection of Wall and Broad Streets, depicting the smoking wreckage, overturned automobiles, and NYPD officers tending to casualties outside the J.P. Morgan headquarters and Federal Hall.

Accompanied by the original vintage tan kraft darkroom filing sleeve and two period handwritten archival slips:

• The Outer Envelope Inscription:

  \"Wall Street / Explosion\"

• Archive Slip 1 (Cream Paper):

  \"Bomb Explosion on / Wall St. N.Y.\"

  With a vintage corner notation reading: \"Great Explosive Shot\"

• Archive Slip 2 (Red Paper):

  \"Bomb Explosion on / Wall St. N.Y. taking / parts of bodies to be / identified.\"

Historical & Visual Content:

At 12:01 PM on September 16, 1920, an unidentified horse-drawn wagon packed with 100 pounds of dynamite and 500 pounds of heavy cast-iron sash-weight fragments detonated opposite J.P. Morgan & Co. headquarters during the bustling lunch hour. The blast claimed 38 lives, injured hundreds, and rained shrapnel and shattered plate glass across the heart of the American financial district.

Preserved in the press morgue of the Boston Herald-Traveler:

• Plate 1 — Wall Street Carnage & Federal Hall: A high-contrast panorama of Wall Street shrouded in smoke and strewn with pulverized glass and structural debris. An overturned delivery vehicle bearing New York license plate #24246 lies wrecked in the street alongside a responding Volunteer Hospital ambulance and vintage Model T cabs. Hundreds of office workers in straw boaters and bowler hats fill the sidewalks, while onlookers swarm the steps of Federal Hall (Sub-Treasury) around the bronze statue of George Washington.

• Plate 2 — NYPD Casualty Retrieval: A somber ground-level photograph documenting New York City police officers, detectives, and emergency medical personnel working with a stretcher to recover victims and human remains along the granite sidewalk directly in front of the ornate arched windows of 23 Wall Street.

Specifications:

• Format: Pair of two (2) antique silver gelatin 4x5 glass plate process/press negatives produced for newspaper syndication and editorial publishing in September 1920.

• Archive Ephemera Included: Accompanied by the original vintage tan kraft newspaper darkroom filing sleeve and both matching period handwritten archive slips (cream and red).

Please Note: This listing is for the two (2) antique glass plate negatives, the period kraft filing sleeve, and the two paper inserts only. Any positive photographic images shown in this listing are modern inverted digital scans provided solely as a visual representation to show what finished photographs print like. No physical paper photographs, modern prints, or paper products of any kind are included with this purchase.

Condition:Very Good antique condition. Both heavy glass plates are structurally intact with no cracks, fractures, or perimeter breaks. The silver gelatin emulsions are clean, sharp, and stable, capturing incredible textural definition across the wrecked motor vehicles, architecture, and emergency personnel. Displays authentic period newsroom edge wear strictly confined to the extreme glass margins outside the primary image composition. Accompanied by the original period kraft morgue filing sleeve and both handwritten archive slips.The glass plate negative measures 4 x 5In.
If you collect glass negatives, please check out our collection in our Ebay store. We are currently listing thousands of original glass photo negatives from this DJD collection through the remainder of the year. Follow our store, and feel free to reach out about any questions about the negatives in this collection.
Ships with extreme care in archival materials to ensure safe transit. Feel free to reach out with any requests or questions).
Combined shipping is available (with other glass negatives)