C. T.

This artist signed their prints with two big initials and a date, like a time-stamp on a postcard. They sketched everyday scenes, parades, parks, people waiting, then carved the drawings into wood blocks and printed them on cheap paper so regular folks could afford art. If you’ve walked past a newsy crowd or a country fair and wished you could freeze the moment, find H Beard Print Collection from July 5, 1879; it’s the whole city rubbing shoulders in ink.