In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, South Florida was home to two highly adventurous sportsmen, one a writer who you probably know all about, the other a photographer who you probably know only by his work.
Ernest Hemingway is remembered as a sportsman as much as he is known for the novels he wrote in Key West. Charles Ebbets, who shared Hemingway’s thirst for adventure in pioneer-era South Florida, was more at home deep in the Florida Everglades with a camera in his hands. Ebbets’ most famous photograph, Men on a Beam, of 11 New York City steelworkers sitting along a steel beam in 1932, has achieved fame comparable to that of Hemingway’s most famous novels. But for most of Ebbets’ life, the photograph – one of the most famous in the world – has not borne his name. Even today, Ebbets’ name is often not attached to his iconic image. But Ebbets’ daughter, Tami Ebbets Hahn, is making a determined push to change that. On Wednesday, January 18, at the Museum of the Everglades, she shared Charlie Ebbets’ fascinating story with a very receptive standing-room-only audience.
Ebbets Hahn said much of her father’s lack of notoriety can be tied to the traditions of the day.
“Unlike today,” she said, “back then, individual photographers rarely got a published byline. Most often, it would say something like New York Times photo or Associated Press, or in the case of the Men on a Beam shot, it said Herald Tribune, Acme.”
As an advocate for the Seminole Tribe, Charlie Ebbets was trusted to capture many iconic images of tribe members in the Everglades.
An iconic photograph of a Seminole in the Everglades by Charlie Ebbets.
While Men on a Beam may be Ebbets’ most famous photograph, it’s just one of thousands of iconic photographs he captured. Much of his finest work was done in the Everglades.
“He said the first time he went deep into the Glades he felt he was home at last,” Ebbets Hahn told the audience. “For 50 years of his life, he would become an integral part of the culture of the Florida Everglades. He was honored to be acknowledged as a fellow Gladesman by those who called the region home. In the years between 1927 and 1977, he used his pictures to document the natural wonders of the Everglades as no one had ever seen them before. He photographed animals of every species. He went deep into the bird rookeries of the 10,000 Islands region. His images were featured in newspapers and magazines across the country. The Audubon Society often used his pictures to promote wilderness and conservation.”
In her exhaustive archiving of her father’s life in photography, Ebbets Hahn has uncovered an historically important body of photographic work – much of it focused on the Everglades. She has documented over 200 front page photographs from major newspapers across the globe, captured by her father. Ebbets already had over a dozen front page photographs by the time he was 25 years old.
Ebbets frequently fished with famous baseball star and World War II hero Ted Williams. He photographed President Harry Truman at the opening of Everglades National Park in 1947. He was prizefighter Jack Dempsey’s official photographer. He photographed the famous gangster Al Capone.
Charlie Ebbets captured a swimming Florida Panther.
“The past 20 years have been a labor of love,” said Tami Ebbets Hahn on researching and documenting her father’s photographic work.
“He told us a story about Al Capone’s bodyguard stuffing a $100 bill – which was a lot of money at the time – in his top jacket pocket,” said Ebbets Hahn. “He said, ‘Charlie, you need to go fishing for a few days.’ Capone was really mad because he did not want his picture taken, and Dad would find him and get his picture.”
From the 1930s to the 1970s, Ebbets was one of the most widely published photographers in the United States, yet few today know his name. According to his daughter, he was hired as an independent contractor by the Rockefeller Center’s public relations firm to be their photographic director, documenting the construction of what was then the largest construction project in the world. Ebbets was known to perch on 12-inch beams, 700 feet in the air, 69 stories high to capture his subjects.
Unlike today, photographers were not given credit for their images. Hahn looks to change that. She holds a poster of her father’s most famous photograph, Men on a Beam.
“In 1932, he took a series of photographs highlighting the working men who were behind the project,” Ebbets Hahn said. “It was a shoot that brought together all of the elements of Charlie’s creativity staging shots and his talent with a camera. The most famous image, known as Lunch Atop a Skyscraper, or Men on a Beam, was taken on what would become the 69th floor of the GE building. It was taken in the worst year of the Great Depression. The photo captures a world without safety nets, where workers had to court danger to survive. There’s also a whimsy to this scene, very characteristic of Dad’s work, of the men eating lunch. We see a camaraderie, a humor and daring – the very qualities needed to rebuild a broken nation. That image and the others in the series were a huge success, advertising the tallest building in the world. They accomplished exactly what the Rockefellers had in mind and gained worldwide attention as they ran with stories about the project.”
While Ebbets Hahn carries on the good fight for father’s most famous photograph, she hasn’t ignored the rest of his large body of work. She was surprised to discover the depth and breadth of her father’s work when she began her archiving project 20 years ago.
“My father died when I was only 18,” Ebbets Hahn said, “so I had no idea, honestly, of the scope of his work. He developed cancer, and his goal was to live to see me graduate high school, which he did. He passed two weeks later.”
In addition to his work at the Miami Times, he was also the publicity director for the City of Miami for over 20 years and was the official photographer for the Miami Metropolitan Fishing Tournament. But his most special work may be his images from his beloved Everglades.
“Because of his extensive work in the region,” Ebbets Hahn said, “and his knowledge of the people and the wildlife, the Department of Interior, the Fish and Wildlife Services, the US Department of Agriculture and the Audubon Society all used Charlie’s pictures for their research and their documentation of the region from the 1930s to the 1950s.”
Ebbets Hahn remembers her father trekking to the Everglades during her childhood.
“Every chance he got,” Ebbets Hahn said, “he would load up his station wagon with his cameras, camping and fishing gear, and a small aluminum punt boat strapped to the top.”
A punt boat is a flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow designed for use in small rivers and shallow water. Exactly what Ebbets needed for exploring the Everglades.
“He was widely respected as an authority in the region,” Ebbets Hahn said, “and he would often disappear into the deepest glades for days on end to shoot photos of wildlife, to hunt and to fish, and to spend time with the Seminole Indians and the other Gladesmen who lived in the remote area. He would emerge covered with muck rashes and insect bites, or worse, but invariably with a remarkable set of images and always tales of high adventure to go with them.”
Ebbets Hahn recalls an incident in the Everglades when her father was bitten by a large Florida Cottonmouth that could have ended his photographic career. The doctors wanted to amputate his right thumb.
“That adventure cost him half of his thumb on his right hand to gangrene,” she said, “and left him fighting for his life for ten days from severe blood poisoning and venom sickness. Luckily, he recovered. He said, ‘Leave me something I can brace the camera against.’ And that’s what they did. And from 1938 on, Dad had a little nub for his right thumb. And that was where he would brace the camera. Less than a week later, he was back out in the Everglades hunting snakes with his buddies again, with his hand still in a sling. That is classic Charlie.”
Ebbets gained the trust of the Seminole Indians through his work in the Everglades.
“Dad’s trust by the Seminoles led to some of the rarest pictures that have ever been seen,” Ebbets Hahn said, “a series of 15 photographs of what is known as the Seminole Green Corn Dance are the rarest of the rare. These are the first known pictures ever taken of the Green Corn Dance. It is one of their most revered ceremonies. And tribal leader Charlie Billie personally invited Dad to document it. A few years back, my family and I, including my mom, were here filming parts of a documentary, and we met up with members of the Seminole Tribe. And they were shocked to hear that we had pictures of the Green Corn Ceremony. In fact, they kind of thought we were lying. I went back and got one of the albums that I was carrying with me. They were flabbergasted. It’s a beautiful series of pictures.”
Ebbets Hahn said her father became a public advocate for the Seminoles.
“He documented their treatment at the hands of the Bureau of Indian Affairs,” she said. “He also wrote articles. He was a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, and he wrote articles to go along with his pictures to explain to people what they were facing out there.”
Ebbets Hahn said her father would often hunt and fish with the Seminoles. He even became blood brothers with Bobby Tiger.
“Bobby Tiger was also bitten by a cottonmouth moccasin,” she said.
A highlight for Ebbets came during the dedication of Everglades National Park in 1947.
“Dignitaries from across the country came to town for the dedication of Everglades National Park,” Ebbets Hahn said. “Dad had been licensed to be the official photographer for the park during its development, and he was the lead pool photographer for the dedication. He was given first crack at photographing President Truman on that day. But Dad’s love affair with the park in the Everglades went way beyond the wildlife and the natural beauty. He may not have been born there, but he was an accepted Gladesman, and for over 50 years, he built lasting friendships with the people of the region, including many of the members of the Seminole Tribe. My dad had a huge, deep respect for their culture and their resilience and was one of the few white men of his time that was befriended and trusted by the elders of the tribe.”
Charles Ebbets died in 1978 at the age of 72.
“His career may have fallen into relative obscurity after his death four decades ago,” Ebbets Hahn said, “but he was, in fact, one of the most widely published photographers of the 20th century. The past 20 years have been a labor of love, and I have found many treasures during this journey archiving my father’s work, the treasure being able to save and preserve his body of work for future generations. Of rediscovering and documenting his authorship of one of the most famous photos in the world, and perhaps most importantly, the treasure of getting to discover the history and artistry behind a man that I just knew as a wonderful father. He was lost to me before I was old enough to really appreciate all that he was. As I have poured over the thousands of images he left to us, I found that more than any one photograph alone, his camera and the body of work that he has produced are like a needle and thread fit together with his love for life, have woven a magnificent visual tapestry of a life well-lived.”
To learn more about the life and career of Charles Clyde Ebbets, visit www.ebbetsphoto-graphics.com.
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