This series encompasses the principal compilation of digital photographs generated under Department of Transportation (DOT) headquarters auspices during the first decade of DOT's born-digital photographic era. While the series reflects a major departure from DOT tradition with respect to photographic technology--the shift in 2004 to shooting assignments in electronic form--the series also strikes a note of continuity with respect to dominant pictorial subject-matter.
On the whole, digital assignments take up where DOT's long-running analog headquarters assignment file left off in documenting key personalities and activities in and around the Department's Washington, D.C. nerve center. Additionally, for the 2005-2008 period in particular, the dominant headquarters region focus is supplemented with coverage of Secretarial appearances at construction, production, research and development, and disaster recovery sites across the country.
At the heart of the series is documentation of the day-to-day activities of the Secretary, from the final three years (2004-2006) of Norman Mineta's service, through the tenures of Mary Peters (2006-2009) and Ray LaHood (2009-2013), and the initial portion (2013-2015) of the Anthony Foxx tenure. The visual record is especially extensive for the LaHood years. Also appearing prominently in many of the activity coverages are other DOT senior officials who played important policy-shaping roles: Deputy Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, other top program and administrative aides, along with heads and senior staff of the Department's component agencies. Included among the latter are the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Maritime Administration (MARAD), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA).
In frequent focus are Secretaries and other leading officials participating in swearing-in ceremonies, as well as press conferences, briefings, meetings, summits, agreement-signing ceremonies, historical commemorations, Congressional hearings, policy conferences, town halls, and assorted program launching and promotional events. Also shown are Secretaries and others hosting visits to DOT headquarters by dignitaries from political, military, commercial, and scientific realms, American and foreign. Portrait sittings (official portraits with the background flag, in addition to passport shots) are series staples as well. Between portraits and swearing-in ceremonies, upwards of 600 headquarters staff members (top-level officials along with myriad office, division, and branch heads) are represented in this series.
Along with Secretaries Mineta, Peters, LaHood, and Foxx, leading DOT personalities viewed in varied contexts include Deputy Secretaries Maria Cino, Rear Admiral Thomas Barrett, John Porcari, and Victor Mendez; FAA Administrators Marion Blakey, Randy Babbitt, and Michael Huerta; FHWA Administrators J. Richard Capka, Thomas Madison, Jr., Victor Mendez, and Gregory Nadeau; FRA Administrators Allen Rutter, Joseph Boardman, Clifford Eby, Joe Szabo, and Sarah Feinberg; FTA Administrators Jennifer Dorn, James Simpson, Peter Rogoff, and Therese McMillan; MARAD Administrators Sean Connaughton, David Matsuda, and Paul Jaenichen; NHTSA Administrators Jeffrey Runge, Nicole Nason, David Strickland, David Friedman, and Mark Rosekind; FMCSA Administrators Annette Sandberg, John Hill, Anne Ferro, and Scott Darling; PHMSA Administrators Thomas Barrett, Carl Johnson, Cynthia Quarterman, and Tim Butters; and RITA Administrators Paul Brubaker, Peter Appel, and Gregory Winfree.
Among events covered in the series: Secretary Mineta joining a cast of New York political luminaries, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor George Pataki, and Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, for ceremonies marking the start of construction of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Station at the World Trade Center (2005); Mineta's trips to Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas to assess infrastructure damage, and discuss rebuilding efforts, in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (2005); Mineta with Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, and Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams at the dedication of the new Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge spanning the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia (2006); and Mineta promoting energy savings initiatives on visits to the TRW automotive plant in Livonia, Michigan, the bus-commuter rail linkage project in Orlando, Florida, and the light rail project in Charlotte, North Carolina (2006).
Secretary Mineta is shown meeting at DOT headquarters with a diverse array of visitors, ranging from Southwest Airlines Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly, to All Nippon Airlines Chairman Yoji Ohashi, to Glynn Birch, the first male to lead Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Mineta's second-in-command, Maria Cino, is also shown highlighting energy and infrastructure issues, including her 2006 visit to Cincinnati, Ohio for a tour and press conference concerning the future of the heavily-used--and notoriously deteriorated--Brent Spence Bridge connecting Ohio and Kentucky on Interstate 75.
For the Peters tenure, coverage highlights include the Secretary's participation, along with her Mexican Transportation counterpart, Luis Tellez Kuenzler, in multiple press events promoting a pilot program opening U.S. roads to Mexican trucks. Shown are 2007 news conferences and sample truck inspections in Monterrey, Mexico; El Paso, Texas; Nogales, Arizona; and San Diego, California. Peters is also featured alongside Kuenzler and Canada's Transport Minister, Lawrence Cannon, in negotiations for the historic U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trilateral Open Skies Agreement (2007).
Among other coverages: Peters with President George W. Bush at the White House announcement of new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and Alternate Fuel standards for cars and trucks (2007); and Peters touring Atlanta's recently-expanded Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (2007). Documented, as well, are Peters' visits to major construction projects such as the Interstate 10 Escambia Bay Bridge replacement project near Pensacola, Florida (the Secretary accompanied by Florida Governor Jeb Bush), the Interstate 580 expansion in northern California, the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge project in Nevada, and the San Luis II Port of Entry and Robert A. Vaughan Expressway projects in Yuma County, Arizona, where the Secretary joined Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano at groundbreaking ceremonies. Peters is shown visiting Minneapolis, Minnesota to survey the damage, and the recovery efforts involving DOT, Navy, and other agencies, in the aftermath of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse (August 2007), and coverage extends to the Secretary's return the following year to Minneapolis for the official opening of the replacement bridge over the Mississippi River.
Also documented are Peters' trips to the Panama Canal (2007), and to Iraq and Afghanistan (2008); the Secretary's national tour promoting a new framework for decision-making on highway and transit funding ("Refocus, Reform, Renew"), with stops in Boston, Charlotte, St. Louis, Houston, and Salt Lake City (2008); Peters leading National Surface Transportation Board hearings (2007-2008) on rail, bus, truck, and pipeline issues; and Peters hosting the 2008 gathering of Transportation Secretaries current and past (Peters, Mineta, Rodney Slater, Andrew Card, James Burnley IV, and William Coleman) on the occasion of the unveiling of Mineta's official painted portrait.
The transportation dimension of the national economic recovery effort is a prominent theme in photos from the beginning of Secretary LaHood's tenure. The Secretary is shown joining economic advisors from President Barack Obama's staff as well as state transportation leaders and other specialists for a February 2009 White House discussion of projected economic stimulus spending for highways, railroads, airports, urban transit systems, and ports. Two months later, LaHood is featured alongside President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for a DOT ceremony marking the 2000th transportation infrastructure project funded via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
There is detailed coverage of LaHood hosting First Lady Michelle Obama's visit to DOT headquarters (September 2009), as well as DOT visits the same year by Philippines President Gloria Arroyo, British Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon, and Chinese Transport Minister Li Shenglin. LaHood is pictured with Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, Virginia Senator Mark Warner, former Virginia Senator John Warner, and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board Chairman H.R. Crawford, among other prominent figures, at the 2009 signing ceremony for the launch of a major Washington, D.C. metro area mass transit initiative, the Dulles Corridor (Silver Line) Metrorail Project.
Covered, as well, is the Secretary's 2009 National Press Club address on new transportation initiatives, including the satellite-based "Next Generation Air Traffic Control System." LaHood's particular interest in dealing with a distinctly 21st Century problem--"distracted driving" due to texting and other cell phone use--is well reflected in the series, with coverage of his multiple 2009-2012 press conferences on the need for legislative action, along with coverage of the first-ever Distracted Driving Summit (2009) held at his behest.
The series spotlights LaHood's involvement in a variety of issues with environmental and consumer education implications. Included, for example, is coverage of his 2010 press conference, with California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and Congressman Adam Schiff, announcing commitment of federal funds for California's 800-mile high-speed rail project; his 2010 "America Bikes" event promoting legislative action on protection of bike-riders on the road; his 2010 press conference, with NHTSA Administrator David Strickland, unveiling the five-star car safety rating system based on a new round of crash tests; his 2011 press event, with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, showcasing new fuel economy labels to be displayed on cars for sale; the 2011 event outside DOT headquarters featuring hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars produced by General Motors, Honda, Kia, Mercedes, and Toyota; and another 2011 high-tech highlight event featuring a demonstration of Google's self-driving car. Photographs of LaHood leading meetings of the interagency Northeast Corridor Commission (2010) and the Committee on the Marine Transportation System (2011) underline DOT's role in large-scale transportation system planning.
Also covered are two of the more controversial press conferences of the LaHood years. Shown are his February 2011 announcement, alongside NHTSA's Strickland, of the results of an official DOT investigation of the causes of the unintended acceleration problem in certain Toyota models that had resulted in fatal accidents and the company's recall of eight million vehicles; and his January 2013 remarks, alongside FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, seeking to reassure the public on the safety of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in the wake of a series of on-board electrical fires and other incidents.
Among the photo assignments from the Foxx years are the Secretary's July 2013 swearing-in ceremony, with Vice President Biden on hand; the "50 Years of Urban Mass Transit" conference (2014) featuring current and former Urban Mass Transit Administration and Federal Transit Administration heads; the Secretary's participation in "National 811 Day" promotions relating to pipeline safety, as well as his participation in the frequent DOT events designed to raise public awareness about the dangers of drunk driving (e.g.,"Click It or Ticket," "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over," and "Drunk Driving: Over the Limit, Under Arrest" press conferences with state and local politicians and law enforcement personnel). Also in focus: Foxx joining Vice President Biden for an interagency White House conference (2015) on the transportation infrastructure development future; and Foxx's 2015 press conference, alongside the FAA's Huerta, announcing plans for mandatory registration of privately-owned drones (officially, "unmanned aircraft systems") as a safety and education measure.
There are numerous views, throughout the series, of Transportation Research Board meetings, Department-level and component-level management meetings, and National Maritime Day, Earth Day, National Seat Check Saturday, Small Business Day (sponsored by DOT's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization), and other repeating events. The many DOT headquarters building shots, exterior and interior, provide a facilities dimension to series content, as do occasional assignments focusing on facilities, resources, and operations at other DOT-related sites. The latter include the FHWA's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (McLean, Virginia), the Volpe National Transportation System Center (Cambridge, Massachusetts), the FRA's Transportation Technology Center (Pueblo, Colorado), the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center (Warrenton, Virginia), the FAA Academy's Air Traffic Training Control Tower Simulator (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, New York).
The series also incorporates a non-DOT-related coverage of significance, evidently captured by a DOT photographer en route to or from an unrelated, official assignment. The "side" coverage, from April 2006, focuses on a Washington, D.C. street demonstration, protesting the Chinese government's campaign against Falun Gong followers.
The bulk of the images in this series were generated by DOT staff photographers Joseph F. Kohler, Julie M. Fischer, and Larry Simmons, with numerous contributions as well from Washington, D.C. area-based contract photographers Liz Roll, Max Taylor, Howard Lansat, and Mike Olliver. There are scattered views credited to White House photographers, including Pete Souza, David Lienemann, and Joyce N. Boghosian, and several coverages by Navy photographers documenting the work of Mobile Dive and Salvage Unit personnel in Minneapolis in the wake of the 2007 bridge collapse. Many of the 2005-2008 assignments documenting Secretarial appearances outside the headquarters region were carried out by freelance photographers based in or around the visited locales, whether Robin Weiner in New York City, Bartram Nason in Atlanta, Norma Jean Gargasz in Tucson, or nearly three dozen others.
