Blog Post #10

Green River Kentucky is the longest river, flowing 380 miles, in the Kentucky borders. It used to be called the Spanish River until 1842, where it was changed to Green River because of the color of the water due to the dept. In 1901, two locks and dams were opened here, giving access to Mammoth Cave. As shown in the picture, the river rises in Lincoln county and flows mostly westward, going through Mammoth Cave National Park, which was created in 1941, around the time my picture was taken. In 1950 though the locks and dams closed. And then 15 years later, the dam that locked the Green and Barren rivers failed. All of this lead up to another dam built in 1969, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers building a 8,200-acre Green River Lake. Since then, the river and, more so, the lake have become a popular place for outdoor activities.

As I mentioned in previous blog posts, these kids lived during WWII, and although at this time they probably weren't affected, they most likely were when the U.S. had a bigger part in the war. I bet at the time this picture was taken, they were well aware of the war, but like a lot of things, you aren't aware of the severity or things that happen unless you experience it first hand. The picture was probably in the summer or on a weekend day, because it is safe to assume these two boys went to school. School was a little different than it is now, but not by much. They had reading, spelling, math, science, just as we do now, but their chairs were fastened to the floor and teachers were stricter in the 1940's. Children walked or rode their bikes to school and at recess sometimes boys and girls were required to play on separate playgrounds. In the picture, the fishing pole is probably a hand-me-down or something man made. I think they belong to a lower or middle class family.

Next, I will talk about the history of the photography, Volkmar K. Wentzel. His father, Fritz Wentzel, was a well known photographer and helped his son create a pinhole camera when Volkmar was nine years old. He had a passion for photography just like it father did. In 1935, Volkmar was a darkroom technician and took photographs for Underwood and Underwood Studios. He made a trip to Paris with a Speed Graphic and a tripod, and had his photos published in Washington by Night book. Then in 1937, Wentzel became a part of the National Geographic Society staff as a writer and photographer, where he worked for over 50 years. In 1941, he joined the Army Air Corps where he helped "pioneer an aereal charting system for plotting military targets and served as a photointerpretation officer". It is obvious Wentzel had a passion for photography. After the army, he traveled the world taking photographs, and his photograph of a New Year’s Eve quadrille at the Spanish Embassy was awarded first prize in the color class by the White House News Photographers Association in 1958. His photographs have been exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, U.S. Department of the Interior, Smithsonian, Chicago Camera Club and the Embassies of Austria, Swaziland, Angola, and India in Washington, D.C.

Works Cited

"Green River (Kentucky)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 14 Sep 2009, 23:32 UTC. 14 Sep 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Green_River_(Kentucky)&oldid=313992260>.

"Green River Lake." Corps Lake Gateway. 1 Oct 2009. <http://corpslakes.usace.army.mil/visitors/projects.cfm?Id=H206960>

"Green River." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1 Oct 2009. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/245070/Green-River>