Page 69 – LIFE

World War II: A Photographer at the Battle of Saipan

December 15, 2019June 15, 2016 by

When U.S. forces came to Saipan on June 15, 1944, the island’s strategic significance was clear: at just about 1,500 miles from Tokyo, it could serve as a staging ground for a full-on American attack on Japan. As LIFE pointed out in its coverage of the battle, American warships in the Pacific had to return to Hawaii—nearly 4,000 miles away—each time they needed supplies. A victory in Saipan would mean those long trips would no longer be necessary.

The problem with Saipan, for American forces, was not that victory there seemed doubtful. The problem was that it would come at a high cost. The terrain offered Japanese forces the advantage of numerous hiding places, and the ongoing fighting—the battle lasted nearly a month, by most counts, though some holdouts continued to fight much longer—concluded in suicide attacks by Japanese forces, as well as mass suicides among the civilian population.

Photographer W. Eugene Smith, sent by LIFE to capture the battle, described what he saw in a note that accompanied his photos as “some of the worst terrain that Yanks have ever been called upon to dislodge an enemy from.” Those notes were adapted into captions but not published in the magazine. They have been maintained in the decades since in the LIFE archives.

One of the most famous photographs Smith took on this assignment was an image of American troops rescuing a baby who had been found in a cave full of dead bodies. As Smith described the discovery in his notes, it came amidst a two-day mission during which troops searched for a cave in which scores of people were rumored to be hiding. Hours spent scouring the region produced only cave after cave of dead bodies. “The stench was vile and the flies and maggots were there by the millions,” Smith noted. “The heat was intense.”

The first living person the Americans found was the baby, “a ‘living-dead’ tiny infant” as Smith put it.

The baby had somehow become stuck, face-down on the ground, with its head behind a rock. Because the ground and the rock were not smooth, however, enough air circulated for the baby to be able to breathe. The search troops heard the baby crying, writhing on the ground struggling to free himself. “It took 5 minutes of careful removal of the dirt to free the head. [The baby] was passed down from hand-to-hand until it reached ground level,” Smith wrote. “Then it was rushed to a hospital by Jeep and we continued our search. No adults who were alive had been found.”

It was the following day that the long-sought cave was located. The American forces used smoke to flush out 122 civilians. The small number of soldiers who remained in the cave were said to have killed themselves rather than surrender.

As for the civilians, they were given water and medical attention, Smith reported. The scene, coming as it did after a grisly run of days, clearly left him with a feeling of hope that was rare in that time. “The soldiers who had lost so many comrades due to the same caves now showered them (especially the kids) with candy or anything else they had,” he wrote. “It was a magnificent example of fair play and lack of a blinding hatred such as can overcome decency and reason. This was real Americanism.”

Marines followed tanks against the last Japanese defenders with machine gunners providing cover. Three men alongside the photographer were hit just before he took the picture.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A U.S. Marine rested behind a cart on a rubble-strewn street during the battle to take Saipan from occupying Japanese forces.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Battle of Saipan, 1944.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A medic tended to a wounded soldier during a fierce battle to take Saipan from occupying Japanese forces.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The one living person among the hundreds of corpses in one cave was this fly-covered baby who almost smothered before soldiers found him and rushed him to hospital.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A contact sheet with scenes from the Battle of Saipan.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection

Some civilians found safety from bombs and shells in the island’s many caves.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Dust from a nearby explosion caused this mother and son to scamper from a cave. Many believed Japanese propaganda which told them that they would be killed if captured.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

An exhausted Marianas Island father with a wounded child after his capture by (or surrender to) Americans during battle between U.S. and Japanese forces for control of Saipan.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Native civilians fled ruins of a village during the fighting between Japanese and American forces for control of Saipan.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Contact sheet with scenes from Battle of Saipan.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection

An American soldier pointed a rifle into a bunker during fighting in the final days of the invasion.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Weary Marines filled canteens with water while the fighting raged on during the battle to wrest control of Saipan.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

U.S. Marines tended to wounded comrades while the fighting raged on during the battle to take Saipan.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Battle of Saipan, 1944.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

As a jeep carried away a wounded American solider for treatment, a bulldozer scooped a grave.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Fashion Covers of the 1960s and ’70s

November 18, 2019June 6, 2016 by

The clothing of the 1960s and 1970s made their indelible mark on the way American dresses, from big-picture changes (the general move toward more casual dress, for example) to the smallest details (monokinis, which are still a thing).

But, as these covers show, the fashions of the ’60s and ’70s were hardly monolithic. From mod maxi dresses and matching trouser suits to minidresses and 1950s nostalgia, the look of LIFE was ever-changing.

September 26, 1960 cover of LIFE magazine.

Milton H. Greene LIFE Magazine

December 1, 1961 cover of LIFE magazine.

Mark Kauffman LIFE Magazine

August 30, 1963 cover of LIFE magazine.

Carlo Bavagnoli LIFE Magazine

September 2, 1966 cover of LIFE magazine.

Jean-Claude Sauer LIFE Magazine

January 27, 1967 cover of LIFE magazine.

Howell Conant LIFE Magazine

August 18, 1967 cover of LIFE magazine.

Franco Rubartelli LIFE Magazine

September 27, 1968 cover of LIFE magazine.

Norman Parkinson LIFE Magazine

January 12, 1968 cover of LIFE magazine.

Greene-Eula LIFE Magazine

August 22, 1969 cover of LIFE magazine.

Vernon Merritt III LIFE Magazine

October 17, 1969 cover of LIFE magazine.

Yale Joel LIFE Magazine

March 13, 1970 cover of LIFE magazine.

Milton H. Greene LIFE Magazine

July 10, 1970 cover of LIFE magazine.

Co Rentmeester LIFE Magazine

August 21, 1970 cover of LIFE magazine.

John Dominis LIFE Magazine

December 10, 1971 cover of LIFE magazine.

Berry Berenson LIFE Magazine

June 2, 1972 cover of LIFE magazine.

Bill Eppridge LIFE Magazine

June 18, 1972 cover of LIFE magazine.

Bill Ray LIFE Magazine

July 28, 1972 cover of LIFE magazine.

Douglas Kirkland LIFE Magazine

Memorial Day Traffic Has Been No Fun For a Long Time

May 23, 2023May 27, 2016 by

Memorial Day weekend is a chance to get out of town, have an adventure, see friends and family—with the inevitable result that many, many people will get stuck in traffic at some point over the next couple of days.

But, if it’s any consolation, that’s nothing new. In 1949, LIFE magazine captured the huge numbers of cars that swarmed American roads during the holiday. In New York City and Boston, photographers Cornell Capa, Yale Joel and Tony Linck found that it was bumper-to-bumper. These photographs were never published in the pages of LIFE, but they are as relevant now as they ever were. The makes and models of the cars may have changed but the aggravating bother of holiday weekend traffic remains ever the same.

A traffic jam in New York City on Memorial Day Weekend, 1949.

Cornell Capa The LIFE Picture Collecion/Shutterstock

Cars approached the George Washington Bridge in the evening during Memorial Day traffic, 1949.

Cornell Capa The LIFE Picture Collecion/Shutterstock

Cars approached the George Washington Bridge in the evening during Memorial Day weekend, 1949.

Cornell Capa The LIFE Picture Collecion/Shutterstock

Cars exited the George Washington Bridge in the afternoon during Memorial Day traffic, 1949.

Cornell Capa The LIFE Picture Collecion/Shutterstock

Cars exited the George Washington Bridge in the afternoon during Memorial Day, 1949.

Cornell Capa The LIFE Picture Collecion/Shutterstock

Cars drove in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Memorial Day in Boston, 1949.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collecion/Shutterstock

Cars drove slowly through the Sumner tunnel during Memorial Day traffic, Boston, 1949.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collecion/Shutterstock

Cars filled the parking lots on Memorial Day. Boston, 1949.

Tony Linck The LIFE Picture Collecion/Shutterstock

How Lyndon B. Johnson Spent Election Day 1964

November 3, 2020May 20, 2016 by

Lyndon B. Johnson’s first year as president was one for the history books: it began with President Kennedy’s assassination on Nov. 22, 1963, and ended almost exactly a year later with Johnson’s reelection to the White House, in a major victory over Republican candidate Barry Goldwater.

LIFE Magazine was tracking the presidential race as it was happening; that reelection was the subject of a Nov. 13, 1964 cover story about the “Mighty Landslide.” And, though the published issue would only include a couple of shots of the President and his family at their Texas ranch, LIFE’s photographer John Dominis captured the whole run-up to Johnson’s learning that he had won handily and how he celebrated.

Despite the eventual results and Johnson’s well-founded confidence, it was clear that the President wouldn’t consider the victory his until the results were official. And even then, one of American history’s biggest landslides wasn’t entirely satisfying.

“He wants,” a friend told LIFE before the results came in, “to make it unanimous.”

Lyndon B. Johnson 1964

John Dominis / The LIFE Picture Collection

Lyndon B.Johnson 1964

John Dominis / The LIFE Picture Collection

Lyndon B. Johnson 1964

John Dominis / The LIFE Picture Collection

Lyndon B.Johnson 1964

John Dominis / The LIFE Picture Collection

Lyndon B. Johnson 1964

John Dominis / The LIFE Picture Collection

Crowd on election night

John Dominis / The LIFE Picture Collection

Lyndon B. Johnson 1964

John Dominis / The LIFE Picture Collection

Lyndon B.Johnson 1964

John Dominis / The LIFE Picture Collection

Lyndon B.Johnson 1964

President Lyndon Johnson and VP Hubert Humphrey the morning after winning election, 1964 (John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection)

Gordon Parks and Ralph Ellison: How a Man ‘Becomes Invisible’

July 4, 2020May 20, 2016 by

Gordon Parks, the renowned LIFE magazine photographer, and Ralph Ellison, the acclaimed novelist, shared a vision of Harlem and that vision was grim. During the decade after the end of World War II, they collaborated twice on projects intended to reveal underlying truths about the New York City neighborhood that was sometimes called the capital city of black America. Their first effort, in 1947, was never published. In the second, “A Man Becomes Invisible,” which appeared in LIFE on Aug. 25, 1952, Parks interpreted Ellison’s recently published novel, Invisible Man, through images that were by turns surreal and nightmarish.

Parks and Ellison were friends as well as collaborators, and both were strangers to Harlem. Their roots, in Kansas and Oklahoma respectively, were culturally and geographically far removed from what Parks once called Harlem’s “shadowy ghetto.” While other African American artists celebrated Harlemites’ cultural achievements, Parks and Ellison both mourned the psychological damage that racism had inflicted on them. There was no room in their Harlem for a Duke Ellington or a Langston Hughes, or even for the ordinary pleasures of love and laughter. Instead Harlem was, in Ellison’s words, “the scene and symbol of the Negro’s perpetual alienation in the land of his birth.”

It is likely that the idea for the visual homage to Invisible Man came from Parks. The book was, after all, the work of a close friend and had been partly written while Ellison was housesitting for the Parks family in 1950. Invisible Man had been published to nearly universal critical acclaim and was one of the most talked about books of the year.

“A Man Becomes Invisible” was not LIFE’s first visualization of a book by an African American writer. For “Black Boy: A Negro Writes a Bitter Autobiography,” published in 1945, photographer George Karger recreated scenes from Richard Wright’s highly praised memoir. The images were dramatic but straightforward, illustrating the book rather than interpreting it. Parks, on the other hand, produced a self-consciously subjective interpretation.

Both of Parks’ collaborations with Ellison were the subject of Invisible Man: Gordon Parks and Ralph Ellison in Harlem, an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Writing in the exhibition’s catalog, curator Michal Raz-Russo noted that Parks made dozens of photographs for “A Man Becomes Invisible.” Many were gritty Harlem street scenes that Parks shot in a documentary mode. In others, he staged scenes in order to capture the surreal elements of Ellison’s novel. Raz-Russo argues that the photographic record suggests that Parks envisioned a more comprehensive interpretation than was possible in the three pages that his editors gave him. (Parks’ memoirs are silent on the matter.)

In print, LIFE published four of Parks’ photographs, each more surreal than documentary. The magazine’s most alert readers would have noticed that the first photograph in “A Man Becomes Invisible” did not depict a scene that appeared in Invisible Man. Instead it extended Ellison’s narrative, as Matthew S. Witkovsky, head of the photo department at the AIC, notes in his catalog essay. Occupying most of the page, it showed the novel’s unnamed narrator emerging through a manhole on a Harlem street. Below him was the sanctuary that had been his escape from the absurd and brutal forces of racism that had nearly destroyed him. Ellison had ended his story with his narrator preparing to reenter the world, but not having done so. Parks visualized the narrator’s reentry, capturing the wariness that he would have felt.

In the final photograph, Parks depicted the novel’s signature scene: the narrator in his underground lair, where he fought off his sense of invisibility in the glow of 1,369 lightbulbs, drinking sloe gin and listening to Louis Armstrong records. Above him burned the lights of New York’s nighttime skyline. A composite of two negatives, the image was a metaphor for the psychological damage that racism had inflicted on the narrator and, by extension, on all black Americans.

Two nightmarish photographs were included in the photo-essay. In the first, Parks created a hallucinatory image out of what had been a straightforward documentary photograph of a Harlem shop window filled with religious symbols and a skull. Farther down the page, he evoked a moment in which the leader of a stand-in for the Communist Party that Ellison called “the Brotherhood” attempted to intimidate the narrator, who had come to believe that the group was exploiting him, by removing his glass eye and tossing it into a glass of water.

The uncredited text that accompanied Parks’ photographs flattened the novel’s plot considerably, emphasizing its anti-Communist elements and downplaying its critique of American racism. LIFE wrote that Parks captured “the loneliness, the horror and the disillusionment of a man who has lost faith in himself and his world.” As Raz-Russo wrote in her catalog essay, “A Man Becomes Invisible” “remains an important tribute to and interpretation of Ellison’s seminal novel.”

Contact Sheet, “A Man Becomes Invisible,” Life story no. 36997, 1952.

The Gordon Parks Foundation

Untitled, Harlem, New York, 1952.

The Art Institute of Chicago, anonymous gift

Soapbox Operator, Harlem, New York, 1952.

The Gordon Parks Foundation

Harlem Neighborhood, Harlem, New York, 1952.

The Gordon Parks Foundation

Untitled, Harlem, New York, 1952.

The Gordon Parks Foundation

Off On My Own, Harlem, New York, 1948.

The Gordon Parks Foundation

A Man Becomes Invisible

Gordon Parks LIFE Magazine

Racing Hats of 1945

April 23, 2025May 6, 2016 by

The thoroughbreds that take to the track at any race are supposed to be the stars of the show. And, sure, technically, they are. But they always have some competition for spectators’ attentions: the elaborate hats.

From silly to frilly, the race-day hat has become a mainstay (and, to some, a good-luck charm). But, while today’s hats can get a bit outrageous, the tradition of hats at the races is longstanding. In 1945, LIFE photographer Nina Leen chronicled some of that year’s best hats—designer hats introduced to the public by models at a race. The images in this accompanying gallery never ran in LIFE.

A few clues can be found in the photos about the races: a woman holds a program on which a few horses’ names appear: SAFETY EDGE, WAVERLY, BLUE SWEEP and some of the features of the track, like the letters U and L on a balcony, are clear. Scroll through the gallery below to see the most high fashion hats from Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida.