Seeing the Past

Russell Lee captured a busy day on Manhattan’s Eighth Avenue in November 1936. Taxicabs and trucks jam the street, workers unload a wagon, a vendor sells from his cart and the avenue’s namesake cafeteria beckons across the avenue.

Russell Lee
“Scene on 8th Avenue, New York City.” November 1936.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017734...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #russelllee #photography

Independence man: A resident of Polk County, Oregon, hangs out on Main Street in the town of Independence. Dorothea Lange photographed the hop harvest in the area in August 1939. Near the man is a sign advertising the annual four-day “Hop Fiesta,” including an amateur hour, street dance, acrobats, log rolling and aquaplaning. He stands next to a Pulver chewing gum dispenser; for one cent, “delivers a tasty chew.”

Dorothea Lange
“On main street of Williamette Valley town. Independence, Polk County, Oregon.” August 1939.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017773...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #dorothealange #photography

Louisiana ladies: Two young women sit on a stoop in Amite City, Louisiana, in October 1935. The woman on the left does the nails of the other woman, who stares at the camera with her chin on her hand. Ben Shahn made the photograph.

Ben Shahn
"Young residents at Amite City, Louisiana." October 1935.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017730...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #benshahn #photography

Drugstore dominoes: Four men mind their dominoes at a makeshift table outside a drugstore in Mississippi Delta, Mississippi, in October 1939. Two observers, one on a bench at the left and the other with a tie, wire-rim glasses and a pen in his shirt pocket, observe the play closely. The players’ metal chairs appear to be borrowed from a soda fountain in the drugstore. Marion Post Wolcott made the photograph.

Marion Post Wolcott
“Playing dominoes or cards in front of drug store in center of town, in Mississippi Delta, Mississippi.” October 1939.
Source: FSA/OWI Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017754...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #marionpostwolcott #photography

Yacht pen: John Vachon photographed a group of pleasure boats in an inlet at Little Creek, Delaware, a fishing village near the state capital of Dover. Several of the sailing vessels sport tall masts. On the right of the image, a man prepares to push his boat off from a rickety dock.

John Vachon
“Little Creek, Delaware. A fishing village.” July 1938.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017762...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #johnvachon #photography

Smithy’s tools: Designed to assist hard-hit tenant farmers to become landowners, the Skyline Farms project in Alabama was a New Deal program of the Resettlement Administration, which became the Farm Security Administration. Ben Shahn photographed the project in 1937. The image shows the wall of a blacksmith shop with various tools. A Resettlement Administration poster on the wall says: "Rural slums on worn out land. Resettlement Administration is offering new opportunities to farmers.”

Ben Shahn
"Interior of blacksmith shop, Skyline Farms, Alabama." 1937.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017731...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotograhs #benshahn #photography

Vanishing point: Framed in darkness, Jack Delano’s photograph shows the view out the back of a caboose on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad between Belen and Gallup, New Mexico. Delano rode the rails in the state in March 1943 to document the railroad’s operations in support of the war effort. The FSA/OWI records note that “This image (was) in a jacket marked ‘Killed.’"

Jack Delano
Untitled. (“Gallup, New Mexico. A train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad between Belen and Gallup, New Mexico.”) March 1943.
Source: FSA/OWI Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017848...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #jackdelano #photography

At the “Temple of Knowledge” booth at the Louisiana State Fair in November 1938, Russell Lee immortalized fortune teller Stella May, identified by the small sign over her head. She wears a gypsy head scarf and holds a purse against her right hip, while her left hand grasps a sign promising “psychic life readings” and “authentic astrology” for 10 cents.

Russell Lee
“Fortune teller, state fair, Donaldsonville, Louisiana.” November 1938.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017738...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #russelllee #photography

Maybe this:
pyrography
noun
py·​rog·​ra·​phy
pīˈrägrəfē
plural -es
1
: the art or process of producing designs or pictures (as on wood or leather) by burning or scorching with hot instruments
2
: ornamentation or a piece of ornamentation produced by pyrography

Young man and bicycle: A young Black man wearing a newsie cap sits with his bicycle outside a boarded-up building in Chicago’s “Black Belt.” The bike includes swept-back handlebars, a basket on the front and what looks like a canvas pannier on the back. Edwin Rosskam made the photograph in July 1941 while on assignment in Chicago.

Edwin Rosskam
Uncaptioned street scene from a series of photographs of the “Black Belt” in Chicago, Illinois. July 1941.
Source: FSA/OWI Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/fsa1997...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #edwinrosskam #photography

Praise the Lord: Congregants of the Primitive Baptist Church line the left bank of a creek as the pastor and another church official prepare to conduct a baptismal ceremony in the creek. They stand in knee-deep water; the pastor has his right arm raised as he prays over the couple to be baptized by submersion. Marion Post Wolcott photographed the scene in August 1940 near Morehead, Kentucky.

Marion Post Wolcott
“Members of the Primitive Baptist Church in Morehead, Kentucky, attending a creek baptizing by submersion.” August 1940.
Source: FSA/OWI Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017804...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #marionpostwolcott #photography

Ad for upcoming acts at the Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake, Iowa, in 1934.

From the Globe-Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, August 27, 1934, p. 4:

Girls just wanna have fun: In Arthur Rothstein’s photograph, two women sit at a table in a bar in Marshalltown, Iowa, in February 1940. Taking a break from dancing in the adjacent dance hall, they enjoy Coca-Cola, beer and Camels, perhaps planning to attend a performance by Huck Shaffer’s Band at Forest Park.

Arthur Rothstein
"Girls in beer parlor adjoining dance hall. Marshalltown, Iowa." February 1940.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017779...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #arthurrothstein #photography

Jack Delano visited Mauch Chunk, in northeastern Pennsylvania, in August 1940, producing more than 120 negatives. The photograph shows one of the main streets in the town, captured in beautiful light with a large selection of parked vehicles. A building on the right side is labeled F.O.E,, for Fraternal Order of Eagles. The coal-mining and railroad town of Mauch Chunk was renamed Jim Thorpe in 1954 in honor of the native American athlete who was interred there the same year.

Jack Delano
Untitled.("Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania.”) August 1940.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017791...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #jackdelano #photography

Failed farm: Wilbur Staats’s March 1937 photograph shows what’s left of an abandoned farm in Idaho. A derelict auto sits half-buried in dirt and sand in the foreground, its engine scavenged. Several men examine the windmill, with one having climbed to the platform to take a closer look. A fence line appears in the background, but there is no evidence of a dwelling.

Wilbur Staats
“Wind erosion is covering remains of unsuccessful farm in Idaho.” March 1937.
www.loc.gov/item/2017769...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #wilburstaats #photography

Closing the border: Two Colorado National Guardsmen enforce martial law to prevent migrants from other states and Mexico from crossing the state’s southern border. With a tent for their barracks, they stand in the road, wearing sidearms, next to a sign declaring “STOP Martial Law.” According to the "Colorado Encyclopedia," “For ten days in 1936, Colorado governor Edwin ‘Big Ed’ Johnson declared martial law in the state, which allowed him to close Colorado’s southern border . . . Amid record unemployment during the Great Depression, Johnson closed the border because he feared an ‘invasion’ of 'alien and indigent persons’ who would take scarce jobs from white Coloradans.”

Arthur Rothstein
“Martial law on Colorado border stops migratory laborers.” April 1936.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017760...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #arthurrothstein #photography

Cotton kingdom: Two brokers in Memphis, Tennessee, examine and grade the product in a room filled with cotton. Marion Post Wolcott made the photograph in November 1939.

Marion Post Wolcott
“Sampling and classing cotton in classing rooms of cotton factor’s office, Memphis, Tennessee.” November 1939.
Source: FSA/OWI Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017755...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #marionpostwolcott #photography

Car stop: Gordon Parks photographed a woman waiting for a streetcar in Washington, D.C., in August 1942. Standing next to a “Car Stop” sign, she observes the 954 streetcar going by in front of her, with an automobile blurred in motion just to her left. Parks made the image at 7th Street and Florida Avenue N.W.

Gordon Parks
“Washington, D.C. Street corner, 7th Street and Florida Avenue, N.W.” August 1942.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017765...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #gordonparks #photography

Father, son and dogs: In Malheur County, Oregon, on the eastern side of the state bordering Idaho, Dorothea Lange encountered Mr. Dougherty, who leans on a shovel, looking lovingly at his smiling young son, while two dogs rest nearby. The farmer, his wife and five children lived in a basement house - partially underground - and purchased their land with a loan from the Farm Security Administration. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built irrigation projects in the county to enable productive farming.

Dorothea Lange
“Mr. Dougherty and one of the children. Warm Springs district, Malheur County, Oregon.” October 1939.
Source: FSA/OWI Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017773...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #dorothealange #photography

Rocky road: Arthur Rothstein photographed a rugged “road” - in reality a rocky trail - up the mountain to Nicholson Hollow in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, in October 1935.

Arthur Rothstein
“Road to Nicholson Hollow. Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.” October 1935.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017758...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #arthurrothstein #photography

Steel mill neighborhood: Houses, leafless trees and electric poles descend a steep street in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, leading to the stacks and buildings of the Bethlehem Steel Co. plant. Smoke and haze shroud the steel mill in the photograph, made by Walker Evans in November 1935.

Walker Evans
“Bethlehem houses and steel mill. Pennsylvania.” November 1935.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017759...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #walkerevans #photography

Migrant girl on truck: A girl “catches the wind” as her parents lift a table onto their truck before they leave Muskogee, Oklahoma, for California. Russell Lee photographed this family’s part in the “Okie” migration in July 1939.

Russell Lee
"Loading truck with table which will be carried by this migrant family to California, near Muskogee, Oklahoma." July 1939.
Source: FSA/OWI Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017740...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #russelllee #photography

"In the 1940s, a "Dabs" holder on the wall of a woman's room likely referred to a holder for a type of ointment or salve, commonly known as "dabs." These holders would typically be used to store and dispense small amounts of medicinal or cosmetic creams and ointments." (2/2)

I haven't found any info on Dabs, so I asked ChatGPT, which probably hallucinated the following : (1/2)

Slingshot boy: A young boy pulls on a homemade slingshot with all his might. Marion Post Wolcott photographed the action in September 1940 in the Kentucky hills near Buckhorn.

Marion Post Wolcott
“Mountain child shooting slingshot from porch of his home. Near Buckhorn, Kentucky.” September 1940.
Source: FSA/OWI Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017757...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #marionpostwolcott #photography

A woman still dressed in her work attire leans on her dresser as she listens intently to a murder mystery on her radio. An overflowing waste basket sits on the floor of her boardinghouse room. This is one of the images in Bubley’s photo essay on “Life in a boardinghouse in Washington, D.C.,” which she photographed in her sister’s building in 1943.

Esther Bubley
“Washington, D.C. Listening to a murder mystery on the radio in a boardinghouse room.“ January 1943.
Source: FSA/OWI Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017862...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #estherbubley #photography

Waiting by the alley: John Vachon, in the summer of 1940, captured a man with a straw hat standing along a cobblestone and brick street in Chicago, Illinois. The Father & Son clothing store where he stands borders a long alley with prominent fire escapes.

John Vachon
"Alley, downtown Chicago, Illinois.” July 1940.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017720...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #johnvachon #photography

Ices: A young Black girl waits for a street vendor to make her an ice on a Harlem street in the summer of 1938. The vendor offers a selection of flavorings and three sizes, priced at 2, 3 and 5 cents. The vendor’s cart appears to have been converted from a baby carriage.

Jack Allison
“New York, New York. Street vendor of ‘ices’ with girl.” Summer 1938.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017769...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #jackallison #photography

Scrap for the war: Marjory Collins photographed a pile of scrap metal collected for recycling for the war effort at a collection site in Washington, D.C., in May 1942. Piled near a heavy-duty chain and other industrial scrap, a bumper and set of auto headlights dominate the foreground.

Marjory Collins
“Washington, D.C. Scrap salvage campaign, Victory Program. Car headlights glare up among objects in wholesale junkyard.” May 1942.
Source: FSA/OWI Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017825...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #marjorycollins #photography

Arthur Rothstein photographed this failed bank in Haverhill, Iowa, in September 1939. The large window to the left of the entrance door appears to be broken. Posters for the Cole Bros. circus cover the door and the large window to its right. The Social Security Administration website’s history section features Rothstein’s photo, with the following text: “Many smaller banks, such as this one in Haverhill, Iowa, lacked sufficient reserves to stay in business and became no more than convenient billboards. Many of the small banks had lent large portions of their assets for stock market speculation and were virtually put out of business overnight when the market crashed. In all, 9,000 banks failed--taking with them $7 billion in depositors' assets. And in the 1930s there was no such thing as deposit insurance--this was a New Deal reform. When a bank failed the depositors were simply left without a penny. The life savings of millions of Americans were wiped out by the bank failures.”

Arthur Rothstein
“Closed bank. Haverhill, Iowa.” September 1939.
Source: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/item/2017778...

🗃️ #skystorians #fsaphotographs #arthurrothstein #photography