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Creator
Sperr, Percy Loomis, 1890-1964
Call number
AZ 25-14
Physical description
0.42 linear feet (1 box)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Percy Loomis Sperr New York City photographs, Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library
Repository
Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy
Access to materials
Request a research appointment: https://www.nypl.org/locations/schwarzman/milstein

Percy Loomis Sperr (1890-1964) was an American photographer known for his street photography of New York City. The Percy Loomis Sperr New York City photographs date from 1927 to 1943 and hold photographic prints of Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.

Biographical/historical information

Percy Loomis Sperr (1890-1964) was an American photographer known for his street photography of New York City. Sperr was born in Columbus, Ohio and graduated from Oberlin College in 1912. A childhood bout of meningitis caused Sperr to use crutches for the rest of his life.

After relocating to New York in 1917, Sperr initially found work as a freelance journalist with the New York Herald Tribune. He later worked for the New York Public Library in the Map Division.

In the late 1920s, Sperr was hired by the New York Public Library to document and photograph streets and buildings around New York City. Between the 1920s and 1940s Sperr took over 30,000 photos for the New York Public Library and was referred to as the "Official Photographer of the City of New York."

Sperr was a longtime resident of Staten Island and in 1937 he published a book, Island Scenes, of photographs from around the island. In 1942 he opened a second-hand bookstore in Staten Island which remained open until his death in 1964.

Scope and arrangement

The Percy Loomis Sperr photographs date from 1927 to 1943 and hold photographic prints of Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. The prints are primarily 4x6 black-and-white.

Sperr's photographs document a changing New York City, detailing rising skyscrapers in Manhattan, redeveloped waterfront in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and newly developed communities in Queens and Staten Island.

Brooklyn neighborhoods photographed include Williamsburg and Greenpoint (including shots of Meeker Ave. before construction of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway), Fort Greene, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Flatbush, Coney Island, and Sheepshead Bay.

Manhattan photographs include aerial shots of Lower Manhattan and Midtown, waterfront redevelopment, and demolition of tenements. Uptown shots include Columbia University, Washington Heights (including the George Washington Bridge), and Harlem.

Queens neighborhoods photographed include Long Island City, Middle Village, Jamaica, and Flushing.

Staten Island shots include Stapleton, Tottenville, Silver Lake Park, and construction of the Outerbridge Crossing.

The backside of all photographs have written details about the shot including location and date. Some photographs may be marked as "duplicate."

Arrangement

Files are arranged alphabetically by location.

Administrative information

Processing information

Processed by Christopher Arena in 2025.

Using the collection

Location

Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
First Floor, Room 121

Access to materials

Request a research appointment: https://www.nypl.org/locations/schwarzman/milstein