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Bequest from the Estate of Elizabeth Beattie, 2023.17.27, Connecticut Museum of Culture and His…
Crew Members of Schooner AMERICAN EAGLE
Bequest from the Estate of Elizabeth Beattie, 2023.17.27, Connecticut Museum of Culture and History collection, Public Domain

Crew Members of Schooner AMERICAN EAGLE

Date1890-1918
MediumPhotography; nitrate negatives
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (overall height x width): 3 5/8 × 2 3/4in. (9.2 × 7cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineBequest from the Estate of Elizabeth Beattie
DescriptionBlack and white photographic negative, portrait of two unidentified male crew members, one young and one old, on Beattie Granite's schooner, the AMERICAN EAGLE. The two men are standing on the deck below the boom. The younger man [right] is posed with one hand on his hip and the other above his head holding on to a rope. The older man [left] stands with his arms crossed. They are both dressed in work clothes.
Object number2023.17.27
CopyrightPublic Domain
NotesSubject Note: John Beattie's granite quarry, situated in Guilford on the Long Island Sound, was well-positioned to distribute granite via a fleet of schooners to locations in Connecticut and New York. Notably, granite from Beattie's quarry was used in the pedestal at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

The quarry operated from 1869, when Scottish immigrant Beattie purchased 400 acres of land on Leetes Island, until about 1918, when Beattie's sons closed up shop 20 years after his death. At its height, the quarry employed 700 people, many of them immigrants from Scotland, Ireland, England, Finland, Sweden, and Italy.
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