Port of Aden from the Sea
This 1894 photograph depicts Aden (in present-day Yemen) as viewed from the sea. The port city of Aden was occupied by the British in 1839 and became an important fueling depot for the British Navy. Situated at a strategically advantageous spot at the entrance to the Red Sea, Aden became a British Crown Colony in 1937 and remained under British control for another three decades. William Henry Jackson (1843-1942) took the photograph for the World’s Transportation Commission, a mission organized by U.S. railroad publicist Joseph Gladding Pangborn to gather information about international transportation systems, especially railroads, for the Field Columbian Museum in Chicago. The Field Columbian Museum had acquired several exhibits from the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, including extensive displays on transportation and the railways. Besides Pangborn, the Commission included a railroad engineer, a graphic artist, and Jackson, who had extensive experience photographing for American railroad companies and geological survey expeditions. The expedition began in North Africa in late 1894 and concluded in Siberia in early 1896.
Type of Item
1 slide : lantern ; 3.25 x 4 inches
Last updated: April 18, 2012