Mohawk Ironworkers Build New York

BOOMING OUT
Mohawk Ironworkers Build New York
An exhibition created by the NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN and organized
for travel by the SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION TRAVELING EXHIBITION SERVICE
Smithsonian
“It’s like you’re on top of the world. When you are up there
you can see all over Manhattan . . . You’re like an eagle.”
F
E A R L E S S LY T R E A D I N G
where
name for themselves—
few dare to go, Mohawk
hodinoso:ni’—means “they build
ironworkers have built bridges
longhouses.”
and skyscrapers throughout the
— G E O R G E G I L B E RT ( M O H AW K , K A H N AWA K E ) , 1 9 9 9
The exhibition’s 67 color and
United States and Canada for more
black-and-white photographs are
than 100 years. The Mohawk tradition
organized into six sections focusing
of ironworking began in the mid-
on aspects of Mohawk ironworking:
1880s, when they were hired as
Crossing Borders/A Foothold in New
unskilled laborers to build a bridge
York, Danger of the Job, Mohawks in
over the St. Lawrence River, between Canada and
Brooklyn, Building Landmarks, Booming Out, and
Mohawk land in New York State. They quickly earned
Remembering the World Trade Center. Many of the
a reputation for being good workers, and Mohawk
photographs were shot by the ironworkers them-
“skywalkers” began “booming out” from their Native
selves. Others, such as the famous Lewis Hine photo
communities in search of work on girders far from
of ironworkers lunching on a crossbeam during con-
home.
struction of Rockefeller Center, are historic images
By 1916, they made their way to New York City;
from the collections of the Smithsonian Institution,
soon others began to make the trip to the city that
Library of Congress, Museum of the City of New York,
would set the standard for feats of construction. More
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Bridges
jobs followed, and during the next 80 years, Mohawk
and Tunnels, and other archival sources.
men worked on practically all of New York’s major
Text panels and photo labels are supplemented by
construction projects, including the Empire State
quotations from ironworkers, past and present, who
Building, the Chrysler Building, the George
provide personal and sometimes poignant commen-
Washington and Triborough Bridges, Madison Square
tary about a job that is demanding, dangerous, yet
Kanien’kehaka Onkwawén:na
Garden, and the World Trade Center. Today, Mohawk
often exhilarating.
Raotitiohkwa
ironworkers continue to work on high steel, carrying
All images courtesy
COVER :
Keith McComber
(Mohawk, Kahnawake) and
Marvin Davis (Six Nations)
“topping out” the Bear
The exhibition design echoes the construction-
the Mohawk reputation for skill, bravery, and pride
related subject matter via visible wall-mounted metal
into the 21st century.
brackets that support the hanging exhibition structure
Booming Out: Mohawk Ironworkers Build New
(the design of which evokes I-beams). Photographs
York, a photography exhibition developed by the
and blocks of text are affixed on multi-layer panels
Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American
from the structure, becoming, in effect, a three-
Indian (NMAI) and circulated by the Smithsonian
dimensional collage. Horizontal aluminum cables,
Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES),
which serve an aesthetic rather than functional
Second Avenue between
documents six generations of Mohawk ironworkers
purpose, further reinforce the theme.
47th and 48th Streets, New
from two Native communities: Akwesasne (which
York, N.Y., 1971
straddles Ontario, Quebec, and New York State) and
Kahnawake) accompanies Booming Out. The work,
Kahnawake (near Montreal). The communities are
now in NMAI’s collection, is made from metal
(Mohawk, Kahnawake) rivet-
part of the Iroquois Confederacy, which has, as histo-
collected at the World Trade Center’s Ground Zero
ing at the San Francisco Bay
rian Richard Hill, Sr. (Tuscarora) notes, a long history
by Mohawk steelworkers, whose skills were critically
of building structures. In fact, he says, the Iroquois’s
important to the rescue and cleanup operations there.
Stearns Building, New York,
N.Y., 2000
LEFT :
Alex Mayo (Mohawk,
Kahnawake) on a column at
OPPOSITE :
Joseph Jocks
Bridge, San Francisco, Calif.,
1930s
A sculpture by Darryl Pronovost (Mohawk,
EXHIBITION COLLABORATORS
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION TRAVELING
OPPOSITE :
Ironworker
apprentice Steve Cross
The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American
EXHIBITION SERVICE
Indian (NMAI) is dedicated to the preservation, study,
The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition
the AOL Time Warner
and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history,
Service (SITES) has been sharing the wealth of
Building, New York, N.Y.,
and arts of Native Americans. Established by an Act of
Smithsonian collections and research programs with
Congress in 1989, NMAI works with Native peoples of
millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more
RIGHT :
the Western Hemisphere to protect and foster their
than 50 years. One of the Smithsonian’s four national
Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge,
cultures by reaffirming traditions, encouraging con-
outreach programs, SITES connects Americans to
temporary artistic expression, and providing a forum
their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of
BELOW :
for Native voices. NMAI’s George Gustav Heye Center
exhibitions about art, science, and history, which are
construction of the South
in New York City hosts exhibitions and a variety of
shown wherever people live, work, and play: in muse-
programs. The Cultural Resources Center in Suitland,
ums, libraries, science centers, historical societies,
Maryland, houses NMAI collections and serves as a
community centers, botanical gardens, schools, and
research center for historians and conservators. In
shopping malls. For more information, including exhi-
2004, NMAI will open its new museum on the National
bition descriptions and tour schedules, visit
Mall. For more information, visit www.nmai.si.edu.
www.sites.si.edu.
(Mohawk, Kahnawake) at
2001
Ironworkers on
Kingston, N.Y., 1956
Looking down at
Tower of the World Trade
Center, New York, N.Y.,
about 1970
SPECIFICATIONS
CONTENTS:
67 black-and-white and color photographs,
REGISTRARIAL REQUIREMENTS
Exhibitors must meet the following space, protection,
text and quotation panels, and labels on bracketed
and environmental requirements to ensure the safety
multi-layered panels with decorative aluminum
and stability of the exhibition:
cables; metal sculpture in a pedestal case with vitrine
PARTICIPATION FEE:
RUNNING METERS:
$3,500, plus outgoing shipping
40 (130 running feet)
WEIGHT:
TBD
CRATES:
9, estimated
Exhibition must be displayed in a limited-access,
gallery-type area. An open mall, hallway, or lounge
area is not acceptable.
SECURITY:
Moderate
SHIPPING:
Standard
TOUR BEGINS:
■
■
Locked, environmentally stable interior exhibition
storage and staging areas.
■
Spring 2004
Guards or other trained personnel, in sufficient
numbers to assure the safety of exhibition components, whose sole duty is the supervision of the
EXHIBITION SUPPORT
As a host of Booming Out: Mohawk Ironworkers Build
exhibition while it is on view.
■
Exhibition area must be locked and secure during
closing hours. Alarm and/or guards during night
New York, you will receive the following:
hours are preferred but not required.
■
Exhibition script and object checklist.
■
Registrarial information for condition reporting;
curator, must be by preparator, exhibition techni-
shipping, handling, and installation instructions;
cian, or other persons trained in handling museum
crate lists and weights.
objects.
■
Wall-to-wall insurance coverage under the
■
■
Smithsonian’s policy.
■
Public relations support in the form of press
Handling of objects, if not actually by a registrar or
Fire protection must be provided in accordance with
local ordinances and subject to SITES’s approval.
■
Temperature and humidity levels should be main-
releases, digital press images/logos, and advice on
tained at 68–72 degrees Fahrenheit and 45–50 per-
promoting the show and hosting special events.
cent relative humidity, 24 hours a day, seven days a
■
Guidelines for local fundraising.
week.
■
Educational and programming resources.
■
Ability to link to and from the SITES and NMAI
sunlight should be diffused or eliminated to prevent
website.
fading of panels and photographs. Any fluorescent
■
Light levels must not exceed 20 footcandles. Direct
lighting should have ultraviolet filters.
■
Allan Delaronde (Mohawk,
Kahnawake), Doc Alfred
(Mohawk, Kahnawake), and Art
Oakes (Mohawk, Akwesasne) on
the 110th floor of the North
Tower of the World Trade Center,
New York, N.Y., about 1970
Early bridgemen (Mohawk,
Kahnawake), about 1910
Empty crates must be stored in a secure, temperature- and pest-controlled area.
SCHEDULING INFORMATION
To reserve your date on the exhibition tour, please
contact Michelle Torres-Carmona, Senior Scheduling
and Exhibitor Relations Coordinator.
202.357.3168 x122
■
torrescm@si.edu
CONTENT AND DESIGN INFORMATION
For more information about exhibition content and
design, please contact Deborah Macanic, Project
Director.
202.357.3168 x137
■
macanicd@si.edu
PO Box 37012
MRC 706
Washington, DC 20013-7012
202.357.3168
www.sites.si.edu
Peter Sakaronhiotane Rice
(Mohawk, Kahnawake;
third from left) working on
an unidentified project,
© 2003 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
1925
DESIGN BY CAROL BEEHLER
SITES