Living with Legends

The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division is a wonderful resource for locating images.

Was this 1938 photo of  Thomas Wolfe taken in the Chelsea? The date coincides with Wolfe’s tenure at the hotel. The LOC was unable to find any documentation regarding the location of the setting.  The photographer, Carl Van Vechten, was noted for his photographs of writers and celebrities.  Photographs of Sherwood Anderson (Chelsea Author) such as the one below taken in Central Park, are also part of Van Vechten’s collection.

This same database search revealed that photographer Arnold Genthe, renowned for his photos of Chinatown in San Francisco, was a resident of the Chelsea.