Jean Polacheck Collection

This collection dates largely from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, and includes scenes of Washington Square Park, Midtown Manhattan, the interior of clubs and restaurants, and other Greenwich Village and NYC street scenes.

Jean Polacheck was born in 1920 in Detroit. Interested in photography, she started shooting photos on assignment for local publications. She married and moved to New York City, where she continued to do freelance work for magazines, as well as baby portraits and headshots for actors. In her spare time, she travelled the city, shooting whatever caught her eye. She also worked as a darkroom technician for LIFE magazine, printing photos of famous photographers such as Maragert Bourke-White and Robert Capa.

By the time her third child was born, Jean gave up professional work to raise her family, packing away her archive of prints and negatives. Rediscovered after her death, her photographs reveal a high level of artistic skill and a keen eye for her surroundings. You can purchase prints from Village Preservation, or original period silver gelatin prints from her son, Michael Polachek, at mikepolachech@gmail.com.

Date
1940s-1950s
Rights
Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to publish or reproduce must be secured from Village Preservation or Michael Polachek.
Police officer with a motorcycle in front of Washington Square Arch
Children on tricycles and playing in front of Alexander Lyman Holley Monument, west side of Washington Square Park
Children roller skating and playing, in the center of Washington Square Park
Children playing ball just west of the fountain and arch in Washington Square Park
Young children and women playing in fountain in Washington Square Park
Children playing and relaxing next to Alexander Lyman Holley Monument, west side of Washington Square Park
Woman with child with rollerskates in fountain in Washington Square, Park; One University Place and NYU Silver building visible in the background
Woman applying make up with a compact mirror in the fountain in Washington Square, Park, with the Arch behind
Talking in Washington Square fountain, with the Arch behind
Shoe Shine, Possibly 39th Street
Sidewalk vendor with combs, fruit, and key chains, Possibly 39th Street
Sidewalk Clothing Vendor, Possibly 39th Street
Third Avenue Elevated Train Station (demolished) at 14th Street looking west, with the old Academy of Music (later the Palladium — demolished), 126 East 14th Street, visible behind
Manhattan Elevated Subway Station, with Metropolitan Life Headquarters (23rd Street and Madison Avenue) in the background
Two young boys in overcoats and caps sitting on a stoop, Possibly 39th Street
‘Danger’ — looking northwest from the corner of 39th Street and Seventh Avenue, towards 550 Seventh Avenue 
Sidewalk Fruit Vendors, looking southeast from the corner of 39th Street and Ninth Avenues, with 514 Ninth Avenue visible back left
Policeman and crowd lined up on the south side of 39th Street, east of Fifth Avenue, opposite F.W. Woolworth’s (demolished)
Zero Mostel performing
Singer and Band
Reading News Ticker
Pushcart fruit vendor across from Kosher food stores
Men in hats and overcoats on bench in Washington Square Park, north side, east of the fountain
Looking northwest along Greenwich Avenue, showing 26-70 Greenwich Avenue (r. to l.), with the Loew’s Theater and the old St. Vincent’s Hospital (demolished) visible in the background
Eleanor Roosevelt with FDR Bust and Sculptor Jo Davidson
Dunham School of Dance at 220 West 43rd Street
Carmine and Bedford Street, looking northwest
Boys in suits playing cards on a stoop
Bar Scene
Man on Sidewalk, Possibly 39th Street
Window shopping, south side of 39th Street, just west of Fifth Avenue, with Roamans, 16-18 West 39th Street, visible in the background