New York State Archives, NYSA_B1598-99_100327
Document Description
The Empire State Building and environs in Manhattan, seen from the Lower East Side in New York City, May 13, 1946.
Questions
Can you identify which building in Manhattan is the Empire State Building?
Is any other building close in size?
How does New York City look different today?
William Lamb, the architect who designed the building, based his design on an object you probably use every day in school. From looking at the photograph, what do you think that object was?
Why was it decided to stop using the mast as a place for blimps to tie up?
For what purpose is the top of the Empire State Building used today?
What kind of businesses were the Chrysler Corporation and General Motors?
Are these companies still in business today?
Why would the founder of the Chrysler Corporation and an executive from General Motors want to build skyscrapers?
Which person — Walter Chrysler or John Jakob Raskob — won the competition for the tallest building in the world?
The Empire State Building was constructed just as the Great Depression began in the United States. How do you think the Great Depression affected the construction of skyscrapers?
Historical Challenges
What did the Twin Towers and the Empire State Building have in common, other than that they held the record for the world's tallest building? Which New York governor was involved in the construction of the Empire State Building?
Interdisciplinary Connections
Math: The Empire State Building has 6,500 windows. If each floor had the same number of windows, how many windows would be on each story?
Math: How many months did it take to construct the Empire State Building? How many weeks? Calculate how many floors were constructed per week How does this number compare to the number given in the historical background of how fast the framework was erected? Why is there a difference in the two numbers?
Math: The Empire State Building weighs a total of 365,000 tons. How many pounds does it weigh?
Science: The foundation of the Empire State Building extends 55 feet below ground. Why is such a deep foundation necessary?
English Language Arts: Create a real estate advertisement selling the Empire State Building. What is the selling point?
Resources
Doherty, Craig A., et al. The Empire State Building. Woodbridge, CT: Blackbirch Press, 1998. ISBN: 1567111165
Hine, Lewis Wickes. Men at Work: Photographic Studies of Modern Men and Machines. 2nd enl. ed. Dover Publications, 1977. ISBN: 0486234754
Holland, Gini. The Empire State Building. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1998. ISBN: 0817249192
Hopkinson, Deborah, and James Ransone. Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2006. ISBN: 0375936106, 0375836101
Kimmel, Elizabeth Cody. The Top Job. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 2007. ISBN: 0525477896.
Kirk, Connie Ann. Sky Dancers. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2004. ISBN: 1584301627
Macaulay, David. Unbuilding. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980. ISBN: 0395294576
Mann, Elizabeth. Empire State Building. New York: Mikaya Press, 2003. ISBN: 1931414068.