Golden Anniversary
On this day in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge opened to pedestrian traffic, more than four years after construction began.
Ray Strong's 1934 painting depicts a construction site for the remarkable bridge. The prospect of connecting San Francisco and Marin County, a distance of less than two miles, had long been considered impossible due to high winds and strong currents. In showing pylons built to anchor steel cables, Strong emphasized the technical challenges engineers faced in building the world's largest suspension bridge. President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt were so impressed with this painting that they selected it for display in the White House.
Source: Virginia Mecklenburg. Scenes of American Life: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (exhibition text, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1999).
Pictured: Ray Strong, born 1905, Golden Gate Bridge, oil, 1934, 44 1/8 x 71 3/4 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service.
On this day in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge opened to pedestrian traffic, more than four years after construction began.
Ray Strong's 1934 painting depicts a construction site for the remarkable bridge. The prospect of connecting San Francisco and Marin County, a distance of less than two miles, had long been considered impossible due to high winds and strong currents. In showing pylons built to anchor steel cables, Strong emphasized the technical challenges engineers faced in building the world's largest suspension bridge. President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt were so impressed with this painting that they selected it for display in the White House.