Lewis W. Hine's world-famous documentary portraits taken at the Empire State Building construction site tell the story of how America in the 1930s toiled with nature and technology to make monuments. The 102-story, 1,250-foot Empire State Building was an unprecedented feat, marrying steel and back-breaking labor to produce what for many years was the world's tallest building. Hine pays tribute to the human spirit by dramatically contrasting man and mammoth scale in brilliant black-and-white photos that make the sky-scraper into a metaphor for human endeavor.

That this building was completed in 1931, in the middle of the Great Depression, tells the tale of how people struggled against all odds in the greatest city on earth: 60,000 tons of steel, 3,500 miles of telephone cable, and 60 miles of water pipes were laid into the building's mass, an effort that reflects the Empire State Corporation's commitment to company image. Thousands of construction workers, electricians, and other technicians risked their lives daily to ensure that the skyscraper rose to its now legendary height. Hine's genius lay in observing these men about their work, and creating a photo-journalistic record of their daring and perseverance. His photos give us a surprising glimpse into blue collar America at a time when jobs were scarce and morale, due to spiraling unemployment, was at rock bottom. The faces of the men swinging from cables, dangling from beams, and relaxing on the Empire State's unfinished steel peaks express anything but despair -- instead, their determined expressions and sure smiles suggest that they, like the nation, know how to challenge adversity and overcome.