80 years since LOOK made Glens Falls Hometown USA & caught it all in photographs

December 12, 2024 Hot Copy

Depicted Glens Falls in 1944; locked in our identity; left us photo trove

Chronicle editor Mark Frost writes: There’s no understating how significant it was that LOOK Magazine in 1944 spotlighted Glens Falls in six issues, telling our story in voluminous photos, catching the character of what it titled “Hometown, U.S.A.” as LOOK looked to inspire the nation during World War II.

LOOK succeeded magnificently. Its 5,000 photos are diverse, superb and ring true. The Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library has an archive of the prints. I spent hours last week poring through them mindful of the 80th anniversary. I only made it through about seven of the 15 or so volumes. There were so many photos I was thrilled by. Most I’d never seen before. Many, I suspect, never made into LOOK.

To be honest I hadn’t realized the feature spanned six editions starting on April 4, 1944. I am very familiar with the first two — April 4 and 18. The other four I found out existed only when I saw all six at The Folklife Center’s current exhibition, Celebrating 80 Years of Hometown USA: Glens Falls, NY.

It’s on display through March 31, 2025. It’s must-see!

Next Tuesday, Dec. 17, at 6:30 PM in the Christine L. McDonald Community Room, the Folklife Center presents “a full color slide show” of photos from the LOOK collection. They ask: Will you recognize anyone in the photographs?

It’s free. See you there?

(Photos used courtesy/Crandall Public Library Folklife Center)