Farm Security Administration Photographs

Collection — Container: Photographs

Identifier: OGLMC-264

Scope and Contents

The Farm Security Administration Photographs consist of 482 black and white photographs, which depict various North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota artifacts, buildings, towns, farms, people, and the countryside. The photographs were separated and placed in the Photograph File Cabinets. Almost all of the Farm Security Administration Photographs were digitized by the Library of Congress through its American Memory Project. Information about the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Photographs can be found at: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html The search page for the black and white photographs of the collection can be found at: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/

Dates

created: 1936-1942

Creator

Farm Security Administration (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections.

Biographical or Historical Information

The Farm Security Administration (FSA) was created in 1937, as part of the Department of Agriculture. The FSA, as well as its predecessor, the Resettlement Administration, were New Deal programs designed to assist poor farmers during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. The Resettlement Association administered a special photographic section under the direction of Roy Emerson Stryker beginning in 1935. This section continued its work through the creation of the FSA, as well as a move into the Office of War Information in 1942. During its existence, the section produced approximately 77,000 photographs depicting the negative effects of the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, and farm mechanization. During the later years of the project, the photographers also documented the mobilization effort for World War II.

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