One of the best-known of all American Colony images, this photo depicts the "first" surrender of Jerusalem to the British in World War I (by some accounts there were as many as five "surrenders" on the one day, December 9th, 1917). On that fateful morning, after the last Turkish forces had evacuated the city overnight, the Arab mayor Hassain Effendi al-Husseini (center) first consulted with his neighbors at the American Colony and then, armed with the Turkish document of capitulation, headed westward through Jerusalem toward the British forward units. The mayor's entourage now included the American Colony's chief photographer, Lewis Larsson, and when the party encountered two bemused Brits, sergeants Sedgewick and Hurcomb, on sentry duty near the village of Lifta, Larsson immortalized the moment: the "first surrender" of Jerusalem. Later that day Larsson thought to retrieve for posterity the white flag of surrender - a bed sheet from a Colony-run hospital, which wound up in London's Imperial War Museum.

Date of photograph: Dec. 9, 1917

A British military formation has descended Jaffa Road in connection with the arrival of General Allenby at Jaffa Gate. The view is looking north, with the corner of the gate-tower appearing at the extreme right. The guards at the head of the column, who appear to be passing in review, are obviously Indian. Allenby may be one of the mounted officers on the right (although it is known that he actually entered the city on foot, out of respect). Today, this particular spot appears dramatically different: First, the British in the 1940s made a point of removing all the buildings crowding the Old City walls, including the entire block seen on the right (the city wall is just visible above the roof-line of the hotel, upper right). Then, decades later, the Israelis constructed a broad, paved esplanade in this exact location and lowered the grade of the street itself so as to carry traffic underneath.

Date of photograph: Dec. 11, 1917

Here British troops proceed into the city through Jaffa Gate. The view is to the west. Seen here are both the original, 16th-century angled gate passage and, at far left, part of the wide breach opened for Kaiser Wilhelm's visit in 1898. Looming over the gate-tower is a mostly forgotten Jerusalem landmark: the Turkish clock-tower erected in honor of the sultan in 1907 and dismantled in 1922 by the British, who sought to eliminate all such dubious accretions to the Old City walls and gates. The American flag seen hanging from the façade of the hotel marks the location of the American Colony Store, a multi-faceted commercial venture that was a fixture there right up until 1948. Finally, a draped camera on its tripod appears in the street at lower left, perhaps a British Army photographer—or is it a rival studio to the American Colony?

Date of photograph: Dec. 11, 1917

The setting of this photograph is the area inside Jaffa Gate, where the British authorities are conducting the official ceremony marking their newly-won control over the Holy City. The elevated platform fronting the gate-house of Jerusalem's medieval Citadel provided the ideal location. The "Pasha" said to be reading a proclamation—probably the officer seen holding a sheaf of papers—is actually the British general Bill Borton who for a few weeks held the post of military governor, until the installation of Ronald Storrs on December 28th, 1917. The brief proclamation, intended to restore order and reassure the local populace, was read in several different languages, its words focusing on the imposition of martial law and the guaranteed safety of the holy places of all faiths. As for the cityscape recorded on film here, it is interesting that very little has changed today. The hotel building across the plaza is today's Petra Hostel and the steeple beyond belongs to the Greek Catholic patriarchate.

Date of photograph: Dec. 11, 1917

A few months after their capture of Jerusalem, General Allenby and other officers were awarded military decorations in this ceremony. The "Duke of Connaught" shown presenting the medals is Prince Arthur, a son of Queen Victoria. In this view, looking west, two historic structures frame a gap in the city walls south of Jaffa Gate: the Citadel, with its 17th-century round minaret, appears on the right, and the "Kishleh," a Turkish police station and prison, is on the left. The Kishleh compound has continued to serve as a police post under all the successive rulers over the city: British, Jordanian, and now Israeli.

Date of photograph: March 19, 1918