Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery

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FSA/OWI

Born out of farmers’ frustration with the New Deal agricultural policy, the Farm Security Administration (FSA) began in 1935 as the Resettlement Administration with the goal of initiating “rural rehabilitation” efforts for farmers impacted by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. By 1937, the agency transformed into the Farm Security Administration. Within its Information Division, economics professor and Chief of the Historical Section Roy Stryker headed the agency’s documentary photography initiative, capturing the experience of rural life and the working class. With the onset of World War II, the agency again transitioned to the Office of War Information (OWI) in 1942 to photograph military operations and American industry’s transition to wartime production. During its run, the agency employed eleven photographers including Dorothea Lange, Arthur Rothstein, and Marion Post Wolcott. By the time the agency disbanded in 1945, it captured 270,000 photographs, solidifying the initiative as one of the most robust governmental investments in public art.

Showing 1 to 18 of 18 Records

Steel Mills, Midland, PA

Jack Delano
Dye Transfer Print
1941

Vegetable workers, migrants, waiting after work to be paid. Near Homestead, Florida

Marion Post Wolcott
Gelatin silver print on paper
1939

Migrant agricultural workers waiting in line behind truck in the field, for pay for day’s week. Near Belle Glade, Florida

Marion Post Wolcott
Gelatin silver print on paper
1939

Image of Saw mill workers organizing into C.I.O union. Whitwell, Tennessee

Oldest child of migrant packing-house workers preparing supper. Her parents work during the day and sometimes until 2 a.m. The children are left alone. New Homestead, Florida

Marion Post Wolcott
Gelatin silver print on paper
1939

Image of Oregon or bust, Highway 10, Montana, 1936

Spanish trapper hanging muskrats up to dry their fur before skinning. Stretching and drying the pelt follows this. His camp is in the marshes nearby. Delacroix Island, Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana

Marion Post Wolcott
Silver gelatin print on paper
1941

Your current search criteria is: Portfolio is "FSA/OWI" and [Objects]Country is "America".

by Artist (4)

FSA/OWI

Steel Mills, Midland, PA

Vegetable workers, migrants, waiting after work to be paid. Near Homestead, Florida

Migrant agricultural workers waiting in line behind truck in the field, for pay for day’s week. Near Belle Glade, Florida

Saw mill workers organizing into C.I.O union. Whitwell, Tennessee

Haircutting in front of general store, Marcella Plantation. Mileston, Mississippi

Tenant farmer’s children, the younger one with rickets from malnutrition. Near Wadesboro, North Carolina

Mosquito Crossing, Near Greensboro, Georgia

Coal miner’s daughter carrying home can of kerosene to be used in oil lamps. Pursglove, Scott’s Run, West Virginia

Negro using outside stairway for “colored” to enter movie theatre. Belzoni, Mississippi

A Negro family on the porch of their home. Natchitoches, Louisiana

Oldest child of migrant packing-house workers preparing supper. Her parents work during the day and sometimes until 2 a.m. The children are left alone. New Homestead, Florida

Oregon or bust, Highway 10, Montana, 1936

Dust Storm, Cimarron County, Oklahoma

Fort Loudon Dam, Tennessee

Gee’s Bend, Alabama

Squatters along highway near Bakersfield, CA. Penniless refugees from the Dust Bowl.

Baptism in Triplett Creek

Spanish trapper hanging muskrats up to dry their fur before skinning. Stretching and drying the pelt follows this. His camp is in the marshes nearby. Delacroix Island, Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana