FSA and OWI Popular Requests
No statistics are available regarding which images in the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection have been most frequently requested or reproduced. However, members of the Prints and Photographs Division reference staff have selected fifteen that have been regularly requested over the years.
The aesthetic qualities of the images no doubt account for much of their appeal. Another contributing factor may be the amount of previous exposure the images have received in publications and in the media. For instance, Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans both published books during the 1930s that included images they made under FSA auspices, and several other standard works on the FSA-OWI documentation effort have included works by these two photographers. This exposure may partially explain why both photographers are so heavily represented in this selection of popular images.
There are no known restrictions on the use of the images. For further information, see the Rights Information page.
The reference staff also selected 15 "Staff Selections" which showcase some of their personal favorites from the collection.
Select an image to view larger versions through the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. "Additional versions" provided on that larger image display include variants that may have been scanned at a higher resolution. Select the reproduction number to view the catalog record for the image.
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Farmer and sons...dust storm, Cimarron County, Oklahoma. 1936.
Photographer: Arthur Rothstein
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-00241 -
Washstand in the dog run...Hale County, Alabama. 1935 or 1936.
Photographer: Walker Evans
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-00242 -
Crossroads store, Sprott, Alabama. 1935 or 1936. Photographer: Walker Evans
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-00243 -
Floyd Burroughs...Hale County, Alabama. 1935 or 1936.
Photographer: Walker Evans
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-00244 -
Destitute pea pickers in California... (Often referred to as "Migrant Mother"). 1936.
Photographer: Dorothea Lange
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-fsa-8b29516 -
Houses, Atlanta, Georgia. 1936.
Photographer: Walker Evans
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-00236 -
Washington, D. C. Government charwoman. 1942.
Photographer: Gordon Parks
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-fsa-8b14845 -
Filipinos cutting lettuce, Salinas, California. 1935.
Photographer: Dorothea Lange
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-00238 -
Roadside stand near Birmingham, Alabama. 1936. Photographer: Walker Evans
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-00239 -
Center of town. Woodstock, Vermont. 1940
Photographer: Marion Post-Wolcott
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-fsa-8c11683 -
Bethlehem graveyard and steel mill, Pennsylvania. 1935.
Photographer: Walker Evans
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-00231 -
Power farming displaces tenants...Texas Panhandle. 1938.
Photographer: Dorothea Lange
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-00232 -
Jitterbugging in Negro juke joint...Clarksdale, Mississippi. 1939.
Photographer: Marion Post Wolcott
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-fsa-8c36090 -
Bud Fields and his family...Alabama. 1935 or 1936.
Photographer: Walker Evans
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-00234 -
Toward Los Angeles, California. 1937.
Photographer: Dorothea Lange
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-00235