Okie Collection (#5)

Family from Oklahoma; have been in California for 6 years... near Fresno, California, 1939 Creator: Dorothea Lange
Highway City, California, near Fresno. Family from Oklahoma; have been in California for six years, have been migratory workers now on Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Mother and child, FSA camp, Farmersville, Tulare County, California, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Tulare County. Farm Security Administration camp (FSA) for migratory agricultural workers at Farmersville. Mother and child, come to California from Oklahoma

Two families originating from Independence, Kansas, US99, between Tulare and Fresno, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Between Tulare and Fresno. Two families originating from Independence, Kansas, on U.S. 99. Started out from Fresno that morning for work cotton chopping

In FSA migrant labor camp during pea harvest, Brawley, Imperial County, California, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
In Farm Security Administration (FSA) migrant labor camp during pea harvest. Family from Oklahoma with eleven children. Father, eldest daughter and eldest son working

In a carrot pickers camp, Imperial Valley, California, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
In a carrot pickers camp, Imperial Valley, California. Woman from Broken Bow, Oklahoma. " Are you going to take my picture, wait till I get my hair combed"

In a carrot pullers camp near Holtville, Imperial Valley, California, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
In a carrot pullers camp near Holtville, Imperial Valley, California. Woman from Broken Row, Oklahoma

MIGRANT WORKERS, 1939. A family of migrant workers with their automobile in the Arkansas River bottoms near Vian, Oklahoma. Photograph by Russell Lee, 1939

MOTHER AND CHILD, 1939. An impoverished family from Oklahoma arriving at a migrant workers camp in Tulelake, Siskiyou County, California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, September 1939

MIGRANT MOTHER, 1936. Florence Thompson, a 32-year-old migrant worker and mother of seven, with her children in a camp for migrant workers in Nipomo, California, 1936

OKLAHOMA SQUATTERS, 1935. A woman with her children at the entrance to a squatter s
OKLAHOMA SQUATTERS, 1935. A woman with her children at the entrance to a squatters shelter in Riverside County, Oklahoma. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, 1935

DROUGHT REFUGEE, 1936. Oklahoma drought refugees in Blythe, California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, 1936

OKLAHOMA: CADDO, 1938. The small town of Caddo, Oklahoma, most of its inhabitants having migrated to the Pacific Coast, probably because of drought. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, June 1938

MIGRANT WORKER, 1939. Migrant cotton picker, photographed along Highway 99 between Tulare and Fresno, California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, 1939

MIGRANT FAMILY, 1936. A migrant family from Oklahoma standing along the highway between Blythe and Indio in California, after their car had broken down. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, 1936

MIGRANT FAMILY, 1939. An ex-tenant farmer from Oklahoma with his wife and ten children standing in front of their tent at an emergency migrant camp for drought refugees in Brawley, Imperial Valley

MIGRANT CAMP, 1939. An ex-tenant farmer from Oklahoma with four of his eleven children in an emergency migrant camp for drought refugees in Brawley, Imperial Valley, California

TENANT FARMER, 1939. A tenant farmer drawing water at a well on a sixty-acre farm that she rents with her three grown sons after the loss of her farmer husband, near Sallisaw, Oklahoma

MIGRANT CAMP, 1939. A daughter and son of an ex-tenant farmer from Oklahoma living in an emergency camp for migrant workers in Imperial Valley, Calipatria, California

MIGRANT WORKERS, 1937. Carrot pullers from Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Mexico working from seven in the morning until twelve noon for 35 cents in Coachella Valley, California

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

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

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

UNEMPLOYED MIGRANT, 1937. Migrant worker from Chickasaw, Oklahoma with his stalled automobile on a desert road in Southern California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, March 1937

MIGRANT WORKER CAMP, 1937. Drought refugees from Oklahoma, now migrant workers, in a potato picking camp at Shafter, California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, 1937

FLOOD REFUGEE, 1936. A son of a migrant worker eating roadside while traveling from Oklahoma to California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, November 1936

MIGRANT FAMILY, 1935. Oklahoma potato pickers family camping on the flats near Shafter, California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, 1935

DROUGHT REFUGEES, 1936. Refugee children from Oklahoma at a migrant camp in California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, November 1936

MIGRANT WORKER, 1939. A young migrant worker takes his guitar down from the wall at his home in Muskogee, Oklahoma, before he and his family leave for California. Photograph by Russell Lee, July 1939

MIGRANT CAMP, 1939. Automobile of a family camped by the roadside near Spiro, Oklahoma, while they did agricultural day labor on their way westward to California

SQUATTERs CAMP, 1939. A child of a family of squatters at their camp near Spiro, Oklahoma. Photographed by Russell Lee, June 1939

MIGRANT WORKER CAMP, 1935. A group of children playing in front of their tent in a migrant worker camp, rural California. Photographed in March, 1935 by Dorothea Lange

MIGRANT WORKER CAMP, 1935. Women using water pump in migrant worker camp, rural California. Photographed in March 1935 by Dorothea Lange

MIGRANT WORKER CAMP, 1935. Mother and child using a wash basin in a rehabilitation camp for migrant workers and families in California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, March 1935

MIGRANT MOTHER. A mother holding her baby in front of her shack in the rural South during the 1930s

MOTHER AND CHILD, 1935. Mother and child from a destitute family in the Ozark Mountains, Arkansas: photographed, 1935, by Ben Shahn

MIGRANT WORKER, 1935. Migrant women looking at a map for a route to California from Oklahoma. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, 1935

MIGRANT FAMILY, 1935. Drought refugees from Oklahoma looking for work in the pea fields of California. Photograph, March 1935

MIGRANT CAMP, 1939. Family from Oklahoma with eleven children. Father, eldest daughter and eldest son working during pea harvest, Imperial County, California

AUTOMOBILE, 1939. Detail of an automobile of a migrant family, with a sack of salt on the running board and leather-laced tires. Photograph, June 1939, at Fort Gibson Oklahoma Administration

MIGRANT FAMILY, 1936. Drought refugees from Oklahoma camping by the roadside on their way to California. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, February 1939

MIGRANT CHILDREN, 1939. Migrant children in the back seat of their family car, east of Fort Gibson, Muskogee County, Oklahoma. Photograph by Russell Lee, June, 1939

MIGRANT FAMILY, 1939. The lunch of a migrant family with a map as a tablecloth, east of Fort Gibson, Muskogee County, Oklahoma. Photograph by Russell Lee, June 1939

MIGRANT FAMILY, 1937. A migrant family from Missouri halts on a California highway, February 1937. Photographed by Dorothea Lange

MIGRANT WORKERS, c1930. A family of fruit pickers from Oklahoma en route to Arkansas. Photograph, c1930

MIGRANT FAMILY, 1940. Wife of migrant worker from Arkansas preparing a meal at a roadside camp for migrant workers in rural California. Photograph, 1940 by Dorothea Lange

MIGRANT WORKER, 1939. A migrant workers shack in a shanty town, near Canal Point, Florida. Photograph by Marion Post Wolcott, 1939

FARMER MOVING, 1937. A tenant farmer moving his household goods to a new farm in Hamilton County, Tennessee. Photographed by Arthur Rothstein, 1937

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"Okie: Capturing the Resilience and Struggles of Migrant Workers in 1930s America" In the midst of the Great Depression, Florence Thompson, a 32-year-old mother of seven, found herself at a camp for migrant workers in Nipomo, California. Dorothea Lange's iconic photograph "Migrant Mother" immortalized her strength and determination to provide for her family. Meanwhile, in McIntosh County, Oklahoma, life went on with moments of joy amidst hardship. Square dances brought communities together as they sought solace and connection through music and dance. Russell Lee's photographs captured scenes from these lively gatherings - couples twirling around the dance floor and an orchestra playing during intermission. But not all Okies were able to find respite within their own communities. The cotton strike near Shafter, California forced families from Oklahoma into further uncertainty. Dorothea Lange documented their struggle as they fought for fair working conditions while being uprooted from their homes. Lange also shed light on the harsh realities faced by migratory families living in labor camps across California's Imperial Valley. In Calpatria and Brawley, she photographed children growing up amidst poverty and uncertainty - daughters helping their families survive in FSA labor camps or grandmothers toiling away in pea fields. These images serve as a reminder of both the resilience and vulnerability that defined this era. The Okies' journey was marked by perseverance against adversity - whether it be seeking work thousands of miles away from home or fighting for better treatment amid challenging circumstances. The photographs taken by Dorothea Lange and Russell Lee capture a chapter in American history that should never be forgotten; one that reminds us of the strength found within individuals facing unimaginable challenges. Through these images, we gain insight into the lives led by those labeled "Okies, " shedding light on their struggles but also celebrating their unwavering spirit.