Union Station

Jack Delano joined the FSA in 1940 and stayed when it merged into the OWI in 1943.  He probably photographed more trains than any other FSA/OWI photographer and this photo essay of Chicago's Union Station reveals his remarkable reportage style. There are ninety-two Delano photos in the book (plus some other historical pictures of the station's exterior) divided into these chapters: About the station; The waiting room; The concourse; Arrivals and departures; Behind the scenes. 

The photos capture the feel of this busy city station with several shots of servicemen waiting in line or saying goodbye to family or girlfriends. Others show passengers relaxing in the waiting room or standing about on the concourse. I liked the chapter, Behind the scenes, revealing how mostly older men kept the station and trains working during the war (young men were in the military). The station was used by thousands of passengers and Delano did his best to cover all the various operations including a shot of a hospital room for emergencies and a small jail used by police officers escorting prisoners across the country.

This handy-sized paperback is different from most books of FSA/OWI photos because the author has done a lot of research and writes very comprehensive captions about each photo and provides detailed background about how the station was run. The first few pages use historical exterior pictures of the station. Incidentally, the back cover shows other books about FSA photographers and a photo essay title by Esther Bubley of a bus journey in the midwest during 1943.