Men at Work

In "Men at Work," author Glenn Kurtz uncovers the stories of the forgotten laborers who built the iconic Empire State Building, a task never fully documented in history. By drawing on diverse sources, he not only provides biographies of these workers but also offers a revolutionary reinterpretation of Lewis Hine's famous photographs, which have long been seen as mere symbols of early 20th-century America. This work transforms Hine's images into poignant documentary evidence, highlighting the lives of the working-class, immigrant, and indigenous individuals who contributed to this monumental achievement during the Great Depression.