Farm Security Administration (Dorothea Lange)

Farm Security Administration, original silver print glossy 8 x 10 photograph credited to Dorothea Lange. Photographed is identified on verso as "Columbia basin, Grant Co., Wash. / Abandoned farmhouse / Photo - Lange - 1939."

Dorothea Lange (May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965), influential American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange's photographs humanized the consequences of the Great Depression and influenced the development of documentary photography.

Initially created as the Resettlement Administration (RA) in 1935 as part of the New Deal in the United States, the Farm Security Administration (FSA) was an effort during the Depression to combat American rural poverty.

The RA and FSA are well known for the influence of their photography program, 1935-1944. Photographers and writers were hired to report and document the plight of poor farmers. The Information Division of the FSA was responsible for providing educational materials and press information to the public. Under Roy Stryker, the Information Division of the FSA adopted a goal of "introducing America to Americans." Many of the most famous Depression-era photographers were fostered by the FSA project. Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Gordon Parks were three of the most famous FSA alumni. The FSA was also cited in Gordon Parks' autobiographical novel, "A Choice of Weapons."

Printed in the second half of the 20th century as part of the American Heritage Publishing Archive.

Verso bears original filing notations and credit stamping. In very good condition.

Provenance: From the American Heritage Publishing Archives.