Well Dressed Woman at Penn Station, NY: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white photograph of an unidentified woman standing in Penn Station in New York City. She is featured wearing a hat, dress shirt, skirt, and open toed shoes. She stands facing the left of the photograph with her proper right arm extended outward at her hip and holding a cigarette. Her proper left arm is at her side and is holding a purse. A suitcase is on the ground in front of her. Unidentified people are visible in the background. The back of the photograph features a stamp from the Orkin/Engel Archive and contains, title, date, and copyright information.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1947; printed 2017
• Photograph by: Ruth Orkin, American, 1921 - 1985
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 12 15/16 × 9 1/8 in. (32.9 × 23.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 14 × 11 7/8 in. (35.6 × 30.2 cm)
• Place depicted: Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Travel
• Topic: Urban life
• Object number: 2017.50.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Orkin/Engel Film and Photo Archive Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.