Thomas W. Kennedy Photograph Collection

Thomas W. Kennedy (American, active 1890-1920) was an amateur photographer, a member of the Camera Club of New York, and an accountant for the Standard Oil Company, at the time located at 26 Broadway, near Bowling Green. He had a love of maritime subjects, especially fishing craft, which became the main focus of his work. Working primarily around the turn of the century, Kennedy’s glass plate negatives depict South Street in its prime and immediately before the decline of the shipping industry. His photographs show and document New York’s seaport district at the turn of the 20th century with vivid and active scenery, and are an incredible resource for historical research related to the trades, businesses, and architecture of the neighborhood.