Research Catalog

Title

Farm Security Administration collection / Farm Security Administration.

Author

United States. Farm Security Administration, sponsoring body.

Publication

1935-1942.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Collier, John, Jr., 1913-1992
• Delano, Jack
• Evans, Walker, 1903-1975
• Lange, Dorothea
• Lee, Russell, 1903-1986
• Locke, Edwin
• Mydans, Carl
• Parks, Gordon, 1912-2006
• Rothstein, Arthur, 1915-1985
• Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969
• Vachon, John, 1914-1975
• Wolcott, Marion Post, 1910-1990

Description

• 1,719 items (4.5 cubic ft., 15 boxes); 26 x 21 cm and smaller.
• 373 photographic prints : gelatin silver, black and white ;
• 1,317 photographic prints : gelatin silver, black and white ;
• 29 photographic prints : gelatin silver, black and white ;

Summary

• Collection documents the living and working conditions of African Americans residing mostly in depressed rural and agricultural regions, primarily in the American South and border states, as well as some of the projects sponsored by the Farm Security Administration (FSA) to assist them, from 1935 to 1942. The collection consists of views of farmers, sharecroppers and migrant workers; some skilled workers, factory workers, and service employees; families of farmers and laborers; displaced persons, including evicted families and flood refugees from the Ohio and Mississippi River flood of 1937; housing and living conditions, including migrant camps; construction and resettlement projects; social and educational activities and religious gatherings; farm and plantation properties; and rural towns and businesses.
• The states mainly represented are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. Depictions of Northern and Western states, and United States territories, are limited; depictions of major urban areas, other than Chicago, Illinois and Washington, D.C., are very limited.

Subject

• United States. Farm Security Administration
• United States. Resettlement Administration
• African American agricultural laborers
• African American farmers
• Sharecroppers > United States
• Migrant labor > United States
• African American laborers
• African American families
• African Americans > Economic & social conditions > 1930-1949
• African Americans > Housing
• African Americans > Social life > 1930-1949

Genre/Form

• Portrait photographs – 1930-1949.
• Group portraits – 1930-1949.
• Landscape photography – 1930-1949.
• Gelatin silver prints – 1930-1949.

Note

• Title based on photo captions.
• Most photographs bear the Farm Security Administration's hand stamp on verso; some items bear hand stamp of the Resettlement Administration (FSA's predecessor) on verso and/or recto. Many items bear printed or typewritten captions on verso; some items bear typewritten or printed caption labels attached to verso; some items bear handwritten captions on verso. Some items bear printed captions on recto; some items bear handwritten captions on recto. Some items bear cropping and retouching marks; some items are cropped. Some items are mounted; one item is matted. Some items are duplicates.
• Collection contains work by John Collier, Jack Delano, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, Edwin Locke, Carl Mydans, Gordon Parks, Arthur Rothstein, Ben Shahn, John Vachon and Marion Post Wolcott.

Original Location (note)

• Library of Congress;

Terms of Use (note)

• Some items may be under copyright and require permission of the copyright holder for duplication.

Biography (note)

• The Farm Secuirty Administration (1937-1942) was a federal government program that provided assistance to the rural poor and migrant agricultural workers during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The program was created when its predecessor, the Resettlement Administration (1935-1937), was moved to the Department of Agriculture. The program's photography project, formed in 1935 and lead by photographer Roy E. Stryker (1935-1943), initially documented cash loan programs to farmers and community construction projects, but later focused on the lives of Southern sharecroppers, migratory agricultural workers in the Midwestern and Western states, and urban and rural conditions throughout the United States. The photography project, after becoming part of the Office of War Information (1942-1944), focused on domestic war mobilization efforts during World War II. The photography project ended in 1944, and the collection was transferred to the Library of Congress. In 1946, the FSA was succeeded by the Farmers Home Administration.

Call Number

Sc Photo Farm Security Administration Collection

OCLC

1273426809

Author

United States. Farm Security Administration, sponsoring body.

Title

Farm Security Administration collection / Farm Security Administration.

Production

1935-1942.

Type of Content

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

sheet

Original Location

Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Photograph Collection Library of Congress; 101 Independence Ave., SE, Washington, D.C. 20540

Terms Of Use

Some items may be under copyright and require permission of the copyright holder for duplication.

Biography

The Farm Secuirty Administration (1937-1942) was a federal government program that provided assistance to the rural poor and migrant agricultural workers during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The program was created when its predecessor, the Resettlement Administration (1935-1937), was moved to the Department of Agriculture. The program's photography project, formed in 1935 and lead by photographer Roy E. Stryker (1935-1943), initially documented cash loan programs to farmers and community construction projects, but later focused on the lives of Southern sharecroppers, migratory agricultural workers in the Midwestern and Western states, and urban and rural conditions throughout the United States. The photography project, after becoming part of the Office of War Information (1942-1944), focused on domestic war mobilization efforts during World War II. The photography project ended in 1944, and the collection was transferred to the Library of Congress. In 1946, the FSA was succeeded by the Farmers Home Administration.

Connect to:

NYPL Digital Collections

Added Author

Collier, John, Jr., 1913-1992, photographer.

Delano, Jack, photographer.

Evans, Walker, 1903-1975, photographer.

Lange, Dorothea, photographer.

Lee, Russell, 1903-1986, photographer.

Locke, Edwin, photographer.

Mydans, Carl, photographer.

Parks, Gordon, 1912-2006, photographer.

Rothstein, Arthur, 1915-1985, photographer.

Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969, photographer.

Vachon, John, 1914-1975, photographer.

Wolcott, Marion Post, 1910-1990, photographer.

Research Call Number

Sc Photo Farm Security Administration Collection