In the name of documentation, something extraordinary happened…

Between 1935-1946 (roughly) photographers such as Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Arthur Rothstein crisscrossed the United States for the United States Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information (FSA-OWI) to document the results of government programs.

What resulted is “The File,” an amazing collection of 170,000 depression-era images that are nothing short of a national treasure. Photogrammar is a web-based platform for organizing, searching the photographs, in part, by where they were taken and who took them.

Here, photographer Walker Evans explains his participation in the program…

Here is the Photogrammar website…

The negatives of the FSA-OWI collection are maintained by the Library of Congress…

An a profile of another one of the photographers, Arthur Rothstein…

Next, a 1961 interview with Dorothea Lange discussing her role…

Some examples: “Snowy night” by Marion Post Wolcott. Click on the “Call Number” to access high resolution images from the United States Library of Congress…

I find this image particularly peaceful. Titled Washstand in the dog run and kitchen of Floyd Burroughs’ cabin. Hale County, Alabama by Walker Evans…

Another heartwarming image: A corner of the (T.P.) Schrock kitchen in their new home. Washington, Yakima Valley by Dorothea Lange…

You’ll find other examples of the work of these and other FSA-OWI photographers on Shorpy.

By Dorothea Lange…

By Walker Evans…

By Arthur Rothstein…

The entire Photographer archive on Shorpy…

In case you’re interested, here’s an interesting look at one of Dorothea Lange’s masterpiece, “Migrant Mother”…

Recognize the woman sitting inside the tent? She is the subject of Lange’s masterpiece, “Migrant Mother.” Here’s that photograph……

Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange…

Posted in OCTOBER 2017 / Chuck Green is the principal of Logic Arts, a design and marketing firm, a contributor to numerous magazines and websites, and the author of books published by Random House, Peachpit Press, and Rockport Publishers. Contact.

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