Dorothea Collection (#7)

MIGRANT CHILD, 1937. An African American child of a former sharecropper that works as a day laborer in Ellis County, Texas. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, June 1937

IDAHO: LOG CABIN, 1939. A log cabin on farm in Priest River Peninsula, Bonner County, Idaho. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, October 1939

ONION FARM, 1939. Onions in sacks and on the ground during harvest in Malheur County, Oregon. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, October 1939

OREGON: FARMER, 1939. A drought area farmer adjusting to a Western farm in Dead Ox Flat, Malheur County, Oregon. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, October 1939

DUGOUT HOME, 1939. A farm couple from drought stricken Oklahoma standing in the doorway of their dugout basement home in Dead Ox Flat, Malheur County, Oregon

SHANTY TOWN, 1939. One of the several large shacktown communities around Yakima, Washington State. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, August 1939

SHARECROPPER, 1939. A young African American sharecropper and his first child standing in front of a log cabin on the Hillside Farm in Person County, North Carolina

FARM FAMILY, 1939. The oldest girl seated in the doorway of the house trailer cares for her sisters while her parents are working on the farm, Yakima Valley, Washington State

FARM BOY, 1939. The grandson of an African American sharecropper whose father is in the penitentiary, Granville County, North Carolina. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, July 1939

SHARECROPPER, 1939. An African American sharecropper feeding the pigs on a farm in Granville County, North Carolina. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, July 1939

SHARECROPPER, 1939. Ten year-old son of a sharecropper resting on a log after working during tobacco harvest in Granville County, North Carolina. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, July 1939

RURAL CHURCH, 1939. Women of the congregation of Wheeleys Church on the steps with brooms and buckets on annual clean up day in Gordonton, North Carolina. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, July 1939

SHARECROPPER, 1939. The son of an African American sharecropper standing on the wooden beams of a barn while hanging up tobacco leaves to dry in Shoofly, North Carolina

SHARECROPPER, 1939. The daughter of an African American sharecropper at work in a tobacco field in Wake County, North Carolina. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, July 1939

FARM KITCHEN, 1939. The corner of a rural kitchen in the home of a tobacco sharecropper in Person County, North Carolina. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, July 1939

FARM BOY, 1939. A farmers son standing in the doorway of a tobacco barn in Person County, North Carolina. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, July 1939

SERVICE STATION, 1939. A roadside service station between Tulare and Fresno on U. S. 99, California
SERVICE STATION, 1939. A roadside service station between Tulare and Fresno on U.S. 99, California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, May 1939

MIGRANT WORKER, 1939. A grandmother from Oklahoma working in the pea fields in Imperial Valley, Calipatria, California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, February 1939

MIGRANT WORKER, 1939. A paymaster on the edge of the pea fields pays a quarter for every hamper of thirty pounds brought to the scale by migrant workers, Imperial Valley, Calipatria, California

COUNTRY ROAD, 1939. Automobiles on a rural road between potato fields in Kern County, California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, February 1939

MIGRANT CAMP, 1939. A laundry unit at the Westley camp for migrant workers in San Joaquin Valley, California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, February 1939

MIGRANT WORKER, 1938. A Mexican migrant woman harvesting tomatoes in Santa Clara Valley, California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, November 1938

MIGRANT CAMP, 1937. A woman washing clothes in a washbin at a camp for migrant workers near Calipatria, Imperial Valley, California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, 1937

MIGRANT WORKER, 1936. Daughter of a migrant coal miner, living in the American River Camp near Sacramento, California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, November 1936

MIGRANT WORKERS, 1936. A family of drought refugees at a migrant camp in Kern County, California
DROUGHT REFUGEE, 1936. The manager of Kern migrant camp with an Oklahoma drought refugee family in California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, November 1936

MIGRANT AUTOMOBILE, 1936. An automobile carrying the belongings of a migrant worker Near Bakersfield, California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, November 1936

SHARECROPPER, 1936. An African American sharecropper working in a cotton field near Eutaw, Alabama. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, July 1936

CENTRAL MARKET, 1936. Peaches at the Central Market in Washington, D.C. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, June-July 1936

LUMBER MILL, 1939. The Mumby Lumber Mill being dismantled after thirty-five years of operation in Grays Harbor County, Malone, Washington State. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, August 1939

POST OFFICE, 1936. Men standing in front of a Post Office on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, June 1936

GEORGIA: PLOWING, 1937. A sharecropper plowing a cotton field in Greene County, Georgia. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, July 1937

CALIFORNIA: FARMING, 1939. Farmer tilling a potato field with a tractor in California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, February 1939

OREGON: FARM WIFE, 1939. A farmers wife standing beside two animal skulls and a rifle displayed on a exterior wall in Malheur County, Oregon. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, October 1939

OREGON: FARMER, 1939. A Owyhee Project tenant farmer seated on a horse drawn plow in Malheur County, Oregon. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, October 1939

IDAHO: FARMER, 1939. Ex-Nebraska farmer developing a farm out of the stumps in Bonner County, Idaho. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, October 1939

IDAHO: CROSSROAD, 1939. Crossroads off the highway in cut-over area of Boundary County, Idaho. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, October 1939

OREGON: FARM, 1939. The Dazey farm in the Homedale district, Malheur County, Oregon. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, October 1939

RAILROAD STATION, 1939. Detail of an old railroad station in the small farming town of Irrigon, Oregon. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, October 1939

OREGON: FARM, 1939. Hay forks leaning against a farm shed in Morrow County, Oregon. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, October 1939

WASHINGTON: HARVEST, 1939. Migrant workers picking pears at Pleasant Hill Orchards, Yakima Valley, Washington State. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, August 1939

WASHINGTON: STOCKADE, 1939. The stockade which was used as a jail for striking farm workers in 1933. The courthouse is the building behind the stockade in Yakima Valley, Washington State

OREGON: MAIN STREET, 1939. A farmer laughing on Main Street of Independence, Oregon. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, August 1939

WASHINGTON: BUENA, 1939. Farmers in the town of Buena in Yakima Valley, Washington State. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, August 1939

TRAILER HOME, 1939. A young girl standing in the doorway of the family trailer in Yakima Valley, Toppenish, Washington State. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, August 1939

HOMELESS FAMILY, 1939. A destitute farmer with his family seated beside railroad tracks after traveling by freight train to the Yakima Valley, Toppenish, Washington State

FARM CHILD, 1939. A tobacco sharecropper child playing with a burlap covered playhouse in Person County, North Carolina. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, July 1939

MAIN STREET SHOPPERS, 1939. African American men and women shopping and socializing on Main Street during a Saturday afternoon in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, July 1939

OREGON: FARMING, 1939. Farm couple digging up their sweet potatoes during the harvest in Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, October 1939

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"Dorothea: Capturing the Stories of Struggle and Resilience" In 1936, Dorothea Lange embarked on a journey to document the lives of those affected by the Great Depression. One iconic photograph from her Migrant Mother series encapsulates the hardships faced by Florence Thompson, a 32-year-old migrant worker and mother of seven, as she cradles her children in a camp for migrant workers in Nipomo, California. Through Lange's lens, we witness not only the exhaustion etched on Florence's face but also her unwavering determination to provide for her family. Lange's lens didn't just focus on individuals; it captured entire communities grappling with adversity. In 1939, she turned her attention to Lincoln Bench School where young girls diligently studied their reading lesson amidst challenging circumstances. These schoolchildren symbolize hope and resilience despite facing uncertain futures. The photographer's work extended beyond capturing people struggling during economic crises; she also documented social issues plaguing society at large. In August 1939, Lange photographed an unemployed lumberjack with his wife in a migrant workers camp during the bean harvest in Marion County, Oregon. The man's social security number tattooed on his arm serves as a haunting reminder of how deeply poverty can affect one's identity. While "Dorothea" may evoke thoughts of other notable figures like Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers or Dorothy Jordan (1762-1816), it is this particular Dorothea Lange who left an indelible mark through her powerful images that shed light on human struggles across time and place. From Texas to Memphis in 1937, Lange captured signs that told stories themselves - like that of a hotel sign standing tall against economic turbulence. Her photographs serve as visual testimonies to remind us all of our shared humanity amidst trying times. Beyond photography alone, "Dorothea" encompasses various facets of history and culture.