--- title: The Pursuit of Happiness, Seen Through a Great Photographer's Lens description: The "pursuit of happiness" as illustrated by LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt's pictures though the years. canonical: https://time.com/3877593/the-pursuit-of-happiness-seen-through-a-great-photographers-lens/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-06-27T18:14:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:51.468Z og:title: The Pursuit of Happiness, Seen Through a Great Photographer's Lens og:description: The "pursuit of happiness" as illustrated by LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt's pictures though the years. og:url: https://time.com/3877593/the-pursuit-of-happiness-seen-through-a-great-photographers-lens/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2bf67b7a0d3d9723/69884a582dce01a37e9e3181/07_00749423.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Pursuit of Happiness og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Pursuit of Happiness, Seen Through a Great Photographer's Lens twitter:description: The "pursuit of happiness" as illustrated by LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt's pictures though the years. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2bf67b7a0d3d9723/69884a582dce01a37e9e3181/07_00749423.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Pursuit of Happiness, Seen Through a Great Photographer's Lens by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jun 27, 2013 6:14 PM UTC  Bob Esbenshade holds a pair of Hampshire piglets on a farm in Lancaster County, Pa., 1943. Bob Esbenshade holds a pair of Hampshire piglets on a farm in Lancaster County, Pa., 1943.Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jun 27, 2013 6:14 PM UTC One phrase associated with America’s Declaration of Independence—”the pursuit of happiness”—has long been something of a sticking point in any discussion of what our unalienable rights really are. Here, LIFE.com recalls a feature that ran in LIFE magazine seven long decades ago, when the editors convened a round table of heavy thinkers to tackle the slippery question: What does the “pursuit of happiness” actually mean? [\[MORE: See Jeffrey Kluger’s article, “The Happiness of Pursuit”\]](http://nation.time.com/2013/06/27/the-happiness-of-pursuit/) Rather than reprinting the entire article, however, we’ve chosen to focus on one engaging visual aspect of the feature—namely, 20 photographs, all of them made by one well-known LIFE photographer, that capture the face of happiness in many of its various guises. As LIFE wrote in that July 12, 1948, issue, the pictures are emblems of “some happy moments that Alfred Eisenstaedt photographed over a number of years. . . . In a casual way they illustrate the great scope of the American pursuit of happiness—ranging from religious dedication and honors on the college campus to beauty contests and touchdowns.” --- > “” ---  Alex Lindsay Jr., 10, who plays football for the Wolf Pack Club, Denver, Colo., 1939. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Daughters of the American Revolution convention, Atlanta, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Howard University cheerleader Alfreda Young, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Little girl and her toys on sidewalk, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Students attend services at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, New York, 1939. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Kay Lindsay vacationing, 1941. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Bob Esbenshade holds a pair of Hampshire piglets on a farm in Lancaster County, Pa., 1943. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Long Island teenagers Jane Fest and Irma Olswang receive flowers to wear to formal dress Christmas party, 1943. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  English major Helen Johnson, 18, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and a junior at the University of Kansas, 1939. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Seven-year-old Billy Mott licks postal stamps in to his Savings Bond book, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  The Winkles and their dog Witey, Hamilton, Ohio, 1943. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Smith College coed Ann Teal wearing her hair in pigtails, 1941. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Coed Merrilyn Olson and date Brooks Conrad watching Wisconsin-Marquette football game, 1939. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Two debutantes making their debut at cotillion at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York, 1946. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Miss America pageant winner Bess Myerson, 1945. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  A sailor talks to a loved one from a GI phone center in Times Square, 1944. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Steelworker Andy Lopata, 1946. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Waterbury Dancing School, Conn., 1945. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Private Charles Accordino and bride Mary Herrick at the New York Marriage License Bureau, 1943. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Cool drink of water, 1947. 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