Sharecropper Collection (#3)

Near Douglas, Georgia, 1938. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Near Douglas, Georgia. "You don't have to worriate so much and you've got time to raise somp'n to eat." The program to eliminate the risk

Former tenant farmer from Texas now working in California as a pea picker, Nipomo, California, 1937
A former tenant farmer from Texas now working in California as a pea picker. Nipomo, California

Former tenant farmer from Texas now working in California as a pea picker, Nipomo, California, 1937
A former tenant farmer from Texas now working in California as a pea picker. Nipomo, California

Ex-tenants, now day laborers, Ellis County, Texas, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Ex-tenants, now day laborers. Ellis County, Texas

This man was a tenant on the same farm for eighteen years... Ellis County, Texas, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
This man was a tenant on the same farm for eighteen years. He has six children. This year he was forced into status of day laborer on the same farm

Thirteen-year old sharecropper boy near Americus, Georgia, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Thirteen-year old sharecropper boy near Americus, Georgia

Small cotton farm, Kern County, California, 1938. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Small cotton farm, Kern County, California. The farmer keeps accounts. Each picker weighs his sack of cotton. In this case the sack weighs approximately fifty pounds

Small cotton farm, Kern County, California, 1938. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Small cotton farm, Kern County, California. The farmer keeps accounts. Each picker weighs his sack of cotton. In this case the sack weighs approximately fifty pounds

Small cotton farmer, Kern County, California, 1938. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Small cotton farmer, Kern County, California. He leases the land, and pays 1/4 of the crop for rent, also pays the water bill (irrigation)

Night meeting in the FSA office, Visalia, Tulare County, California, 1938. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Night meeting in the Farm Security Administration (FSA) office, Rural Rehabilitation Division, Visalia, Tulare County, California

Sharecropper cultivating cotton with team, Near Shreveport, Louisiana, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Sharecropper cultivating cotton with team. This is a step above the primitive method. Near Shreveport, Louisiana

White sharecropper family, formerly mill workers, Hartwell, Georgia, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
White sharecropper family, formerly mill workers in the Gastonia textile mills. When the mills closed down seven years ago, they came to this farm near Hartwell, Georgia

Tenant family with six children who are rural rehabilitation clients, Greene County, Georgia, 1937
Tenant family with six children who are rural rehabilitation clients of the Farm Security Administration. Greene County, Georgia

The cotton sharecropper's unit, Greene County, Georgia, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
The cotton sharecropper's unit is one mule and the land he can cultivate with a one-horse plow. Greene County, Georgia

Hoeing sugarcane on plantation in Louisiana, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Hoeing sugarcane on plantation in Louisiana

Farm Security clients during applications for aid... Stockton, California, 1938. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Farm Security clients during applications for aid under Tenant Purchase Act. Stockton, California

Cotton, Coahoma County, Mississippi, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Cotton. Coahoma County, Mississippi

One of the evicted sharecroppers from Arkansas now settled at Hill House, Mississippi, 1936. Creator: Dorothea Lange
One of the evicted sharecroppers from Arkansas now settled at Hill House, Mississippi. [J.M. Rees?]

Back door of Texas tenant farmer's house, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Back door of Texas tenant farmer's house. He has worked this farm for twenty years

Night meeting in the FSA office, Tulare County, California, 1938. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Night meeting in the Farm Security Administration office, Rural Rehabilitation Division, Visalia, Tulare County, California

Night meeting in the FSA office, Tulare County, California, 1938. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Night meeting in the Farm Security Administration office, Rural Rehabilitation Division, Visalia, Tulare County, California

Night meeting in the FSA office, Tulare County, California, 1938. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Night meeting in the Farm Security Administration office, Rural Rehabilitation Division, Visalia, Tulare County, California

Night meeting in the FSA office, Tulare County, California, 1938. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Night meeting in the Farm Security Administration office, Rural Rehabilitation Division, Visalia, Tulare County, California

Night meeting in the FSA office, Tulare County, California, 1938. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Night meeting in the Farm Security Administration office, Rural Rehabilitation Division, Visalia, Tulare County, California

Night meeting in the Farm Security Administration office, Visalia, Tulare County, California, 1938
Night meeting in the Farm Security Administration office, Rural Rehabilitation Division, Visalia, Tulare County, California

Cotton hoers, Memphis, Tennessee, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
These cotton hoers work only seasonally on the plantations. The rest of the year they live on odd jobs and relief. Memphis, Tennessee

Rail fence with poor barbed wire fence in foreground, Person County, North Carolina, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Rail fence with poor barbed wire fence in foreground. Note telephone line. Person County, North Carolina

Chopping cotton on rented land near White Plains, Greene County, Ga. 1941. Creator: Jack Delano
Chopping cotton on rented land near White Plains, Greene County, Ga

FSA emergency migratory labor camp, Calipatria, Imperial Valley, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Calipatria, Imperial Valley. In FSA (Farm Security Administration) emergency migratory labor camp. Left Oklahoma December 11, 1937 with husband and two children and son-in-law

Western Washington, Grays Harbor County, northeast of Elma, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Western Washington, Grays Harbor County, northeast of Elma. Hand irrigation on small rented subsistence farm. Family have been on place for one year

Migratory labor workers, Brawley, Imperial Valley, California, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Migratory labor workers. Brawley, Imperial Valley, California

Home of tenant, Hillside Farm, Person County, North Carolina, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Home of tenant, Hillside Farm. Note lathe fence to protect flowers in yard. They have no privy and haul water. Sacks hanging on line are used to haul tobacco to market. Person County, North Carolina

Wife and child of... sharecropper... Hillside Farm, Person County, North Carolina, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Wife and child of young sharecropper in cornfield beside house. Hillside Farm, Person County, North Carolina

Young sharecropper and his first child, Hillside Farm, Person County, North Carolina, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Young sharecropper and his first child. Hillside Farm. Person County, North Carolina

Tobacco farmer, owner of 100 acres, Person County, North Carolina, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Tobacco farmer, owner of 100 acres. Person County, North Carolina

White owner topping tobacco plant, Person County, North Carolina, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
White owner topping tobacco plant. Person County, North Carolina

Possibly: Young sharecropper and his first child, Hillside Farm, Person County, North Carolina
[Untitled, possibly related to: Young sharecropper and his first child. Hillside Farm. Person County, North Carolina]

Farm machinery drawn under cover of old tobacco barn, Person County, North Carolina, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Farm machinery drawn under cover of old tobacco barn. Person County, North Carolina

Hillside Farm road leading from sharecroppers house... Person County, North Carolina, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Hillside Farm road leading from sharecroppers house back to the public road. Disc harrow rusting in field and tobacco pack house with log " odering house" adjoining

Tobacco sleds newly covered with tow sacks, ready for... tobacco, Person County, North Carolina
Tobacco sleds newly covered with tow sacks, ready for " putting in" the tobacco. Person County, North Carolina

White sharecropper and wage laborer priming tobacco early... Granville County, North Carolina
White sharecropper and wage laborer priming tobacco early in the morning. Granville County, North Carolina

Wife and five month old baby of young tobacco sharecropper... Granville County, N Carolina, 1939
Wife and five month old baby of young tobacco sharecropper (Mr. Taylor) in window of their home. She is seventeen years old. On the following day she helped " put in" tobacco at the farm

Mr. Taylor, tobacco sharecropper, relaxes when the... Granville County, North Carolina, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Mr. Taylor, tobacco sharecropper, relaxes when the tobacco has been " put up." Granville County, North Carolina

White sharecropper, Mr. Taylor, has just finished priming... Granville County, North Carolina
White sharecropper, Mr. Taylor, has just finished priming this field of tobacco. Granville County, North Carolina

Possibly: White sharecropper, Mr. Taylor, Granville County, North Carolina, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
[Untitled, possibly related to: White sharecropper, Mr. Taylor, has just finished priming this field of tobacco. Granville County, North Carolina]

Story-and-a-half weatherboard house, Person County, North Carolina, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Story-and-a-half weatherboard house. Note chinaberry tree, common for shade. Note soil erosion in foreground. Note corner of tobacco field. Person County, North Carolina

Tobacco barn without front shelter, Person County, North Carolina, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Tobacco barn without front shelter. The footpath across the field leads to the main house. Person County, North Carolina

The tobacco barn, a distinctive American architectural form, Person County, North Carolina, 1939
The tobacco barn, a distinctive American architectural form. Note tobacco growing in field behind barn. Person County, North Carolina

For sale as Licensed Images

Choose your image, Select your licence and Download the media

"Capturing the Struggles and Resilience Families in America" Step back in time to 1936, as we meet Bud Fields and his family in Hale County, Alabama, and are one of many sharecropper families who worked tirelessly on rented land to make ends meet. In Person County, North Carolina, a rail fence with poor barbed wire stands as a stark reminder of the challenging conditions faced by these families in 1939. Dorothea Lange's lens captures their determination amidst adversity. Jack Delano's lens transports us to Greene County, Georgia in 1941 where we witness the grueling task of chopping cotton on rented land near White Plains. These hardworking individuals relied on every ounce of strength to provide for their loved ones. The FSA emergency migratory labor camp at Calipatria, Imperial Valley takes us further into the struggles faced by sharecroppers during this era. Dorothea Lange's poignant photograph reveals the harsh realities endured by migrant workers seeking employment opportunities. Moving northwest to Grays Harbor County in Washington state, Lange's lens uncovers yet another chapter in the lives of sharecroppers. The image showcases their resilience amidst uncertain times and highlights their unwavering spirit. Journeying south again to Brawley, Imperial Valley, California - a hub for migratory labor workers - we witness firsthand how these individuals sought better prospects far from home. Their stories echo throughout history as they strive for a brighter future. Lange brings us back to North Carolina once more with her powerful photographs depicting bright cigarette tobacco growing near Upchurch and tenant homes at Hillside Farm. These images reveal not only the physical toll but also shed light on the emotional impact experienced by sharecropping families. Finally, Lange introduces us to young fathers proudly holding their firstborns while working at Hillside Farm alongside tobacco farmers who owned vast acres of land.