Carl Mydans

Another view of the interior of the Eastern States Coliseum, in September, 1936. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection.

The scene in 2016:

As with the photos in the two previous posts, the first photo here was taken during the 1936 Eastern States Exposition. This annual agricultural fair, better known today as the Big E, has been held at the fairgrounds in West Springfield since 1916. Among the buildings here is the Coliseum, which was hosting a cattle judging event when the first photo was taken. A century after it was built, the Coliseum remains well-preserved in the 2016 scene, and the historic building is still used for many different events. See this earlier post for more details on the Coliseum’s varied history.

Another view of the interior of the Eastern States Coliseum, in September, 1936. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection.

The scene in 2016:

Like the photo in the previous post, the first photo here was taken by photojournalist Carl Mydans during his time with the Farm Security Administration. During the Great Depression, the agency employed a number of prominent photographers who traveled around the country, documenting conditions of rural areas across the country. Many of these photos showed the harsh conditions that farmers endured, including Dorothea Lange’s famous Migrant Mother photo, and have become iconic representations of the Great Depression.

During his travels, Carl Mydans, who was a Massachusetts native, took a series of photographs at the 1936 Eastern States Exposition, including some inside the Coliseum. Built in 1916 when the annual exposition began, the arena was used for everything from professional hockey to equestrian shows, and the first photo shows a cattle judging event that was happening when Mydans visited.

Today, although 80 years have passed, very little has changed inside the Coliseum since Mydans photographed it. The present-day photo was taken during the 2016 exposition, when both the agricultural fair and the building itself turned a century old. There were no events happening at the time that the photo was taken, but the Coliseum is still regularly used at the Big E every fall, as well as other times throughout the year.

The interior of the Eastern States Coliseum during a cattle show in September, 1936. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection.

The Coliseum in 2016:

The Eastern States Exposition, better known as the Big E, began in 1916 as an agricultural fair for the six New England states. A century later, it is still held every September on the same site in West Springfield, and one of the centerpieces of the fair has been the Coliseum, seen here in these two photos. It opened in 1916 for the first exposition, and since then it has been used for a variety of events.

The first photo was taken during a cattle judging event at the 1936 exposition, and was photographed by Carl Mydans. He would go on to become a prominent photographer during World War II, and even spent two years as a prisoner of war to the Japanese. In 1936, though, he was working for the Farm Security Administration, traveling around the country and documenting rural life during the Great Depression, and his work can be seen on the Library of Congress website.

Aside from agricultural-related events at the Big E, the Coliseum has also been used as a sports venue, especially hockey. Starting in 1926, it was home to the Springfield Indians, a minor league professional hockey team. A few years after the first photo was taken, the team was purchased by Eddie Shore. A retired Bruins player who was later elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, Shore played here for three seasons and owned the team for nearly 40 years. In 1972, Shore and the Indians moved across the river to the newly-built Springfield Civic Center, and four years later he sold the team.

The Coliseum was last used for professional hockey a few years later, when the major league New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association briefly used it while their permanent home, the Hartford Civic Center, was nearing completion. After this, it continued to be used for high school hockey games until 1991, when the ice plant was dismantled.

Today, although hockey games are no longer played here, the Coliseum remains in use during the Big E as well as other times throughout the year. With a seating capacity of 5,900, it is still one of the largest arenas in Western Massachusetts, and as the two photos show, the interior has been well-preserved over the years. The windows along the exterior walls have since been covered, but overall the Coliseum is an excellent surviving example of an early 20th century indoor arena.