Vintage: Broken Blossoms (1919)

Vintage: Broken Blossoms (1919)

Broken Blossoms is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by D.W. Griffith. Cheng Huan (Richard Barthelmess) leaves his native China because he “dreams to spread the gentle message of Buddha to the Anglo-Saxon lands.” His idealism fades as he…
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Vintage: Old Hamburg (1910s)

Vintage: Old Hamburg (1910s)

After periodic political unrest, particularly in 1848, Hamburg adopted in 1860 a semidemocratic constitution that provided for the election of the Senate, the governing body of the city-state, by adult taxpaying males. Other innovations included the separation of powers, the…
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Vintage: Hamburg, Germany (1910s)

Vintage: Hamburg, Germany (1910s)

When Jan van Valckenborgh introduced a second layer to the fortifications to protect against the Thirty Years War in the seventeenth century, he extended Hamburg and created a “New Town” (Neustadt) whose street names still date from the grid system…
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Vintage: Ivyhurst (early 20th Century)

Vintage: Ivyhurst (early 20th Century)

Ivyhurst’ was the home of Robinson Franklin Downey (1849-1923) and his wife, Ella Jean ‘Jennie’ (Wilson) (Lindsey) Downey (1860-1934), prominent citizens with influential political ties. ‘Ivyhurst’ played host to such celebrities as President William H. Taft, Woodrow Wilson’s Vice President…
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