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High-angle view of a large crowd of men gathered in a pier shed under a sign.
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Longshoremen's shapeup at Pier 92, North River at 52nd Street, 1948 (Library of Congress)

New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photograph by Al Ravenna: a crowd of longshoremen at Pier 92 for the shapeup. The record names no one. A copy is stored here.

Date
1948
Kind
photograph
Source
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Retrieved
2026-10-12
Rights
The Library of Congress item record states: "No known restrictions on publication for NYWT&S staff photographs." Collection: New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Call number: NYWTS - SUBJ/GEOG--Labor--Longshoremen [item] [P&P]. Reproduction number: LC-USZ62-124238 (b&w film copy neg.).

The Library of Congress titles this print “Shapeup at Pier 92, N.Y.C., North River and 52nd St.” and dates it 1948. The Library’s description is a high-angle view of a large crowd of men in a pier shed under a sign reading “The New York and Port…” for the longshoremen’s shapeup, the hiring call. It is a staff photograph by Al Ravenna, filed under Labor, Longshoremen.

The record names no one and says nothing about who ran the hiring. This page does not identify any man in the crowd as a union official or as a member of any group. A hearing record on the shapeup is not filed here.

itemLongshoremen loading cargo at the Port Authority Piers, Furman Street, Brooklyn, 1967 (Library of Congress)World Journal Tribune photograph by Matthew Black in the NYWT&S collection of longshoremen loading cargo onto a ship at the Port Authority Piers on Furman Street, Brooklyn, 1967. A copy is stored here.