United States. Farm Security Administration. Historical Section Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with John Vachon, 1964 April 28. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Dorothea Lange conducted 1964 May 22, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art.
Lange speaks of her decision of photography as a career; working in commercial photography; the development of her individual style; the organization of the Farm Security Administration and her association with it; camaraderie among the FSA staff; Roy Stryker's influence and guidance and political abilities; the subjects of photographs and their reactions to being photographed; the people she encountered and her feelings about them, including migratory workers and Dust Bowl farmers; opinions of her colleagues; what made the FSA a success; trends in the field of photography and photojournalism and its future.
She recalls Walker Evans, Arthur Rothstein, John Vachon and Paul Vanderbilt.
Biographical / Historical:
Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) was a photographer in California. Lange worked on FSA photograph project during the Depression.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 51 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of Russell and Jean Lee conducted 1964 June 2, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art.
Russell speaks of his background and education; his early interest in photography; meeting Roy Stryker and Ben Shahn; early assignments with FSA covering floods and droughts in the Midwest; overcoming technical problems while traveling around; cameras he experimented with; working in small towns and rural areas; working under Roy Stryker. He recalls John Vachon, Arthur Rothstein, and Walker Evans. Jean speaks of her first association with the FSA and working under Paul Vanderbilt. Both give personal opinions of the value of the work produced by the FSA, and speak of feelings toward the rural people who were the focus of the FSA project.
Biographical / Historical:
Russell Lee (1903-1986) was a photographer with the Farm Security Administration. Jean Russell was an administrator under Paul Vanderbilt with the Farm Security Administration of Austin, Tex.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 44 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- Texas -- Austin -- Interviews Search this
Scattered textual records selected from the Farm Security Administration, Historical Section records at the Library of Congress and the Farmers Home Administration records at the National Archives primarily revolving around activities of Roy Stryker. Included are personnel and travel records, typescripts of photograph captions, correspondence, memoranda, files on public relations and exhibits, and printed material.
218 copy prints of photographs of America taken for the FSA, including landscapes, people, homes and other architecture, rural scenes, urban scenes, workers, products of farm and industry, transportation, entertainment, and the Quarter Circle U Ranch, Birney, Montana. Photographers include: Arthur Rothstein, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, John Collier, Marion Post Wolcott, Jack Delano, Russell Lee, John Vachon, Ben Shahn, Carl Mydans, and Edwin Rosskam.
Biographical / Historical:
Established 1935 in the Resettlement Administration Historical Section's photographic project to document poverty stricken rural America under the direction of Roy E. Stryker. In 1937, Roosevelt established the FSA, and the Resettlement Administration and its programs fell under its auspices. The Historical Section of the Resettlement Administration remained intact under the FSA, and continued its photographic survey and historical documentation under Stryker's direction.
After 1942, the photographs project was transplanted to the Office War Information, and the emphasis of the project shifted from rural and urban conditions throughout Depression-era U.S. to the domestic impact of the war. In 1946, Congress created the Farmers Home Administration (FHA) which absorbed the FSA and its programs.
Related Materials:
Additional FSA-OWI records located at: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (microfilm available at LC)
Additional Stryker papers located at: Photographic Archives University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky. 40208
Provenance:
Microfilm and copy prints donated by the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, 1965.
Reel FSA/WDC2: Record Group 96, textual records of the Farmers Home Administration include the records of the FSA, predecessor to the FHA.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
Photography -- United States -- Landscape -- Photographs Search this
Photography -- United States -- Portraits -- Photographs Search this
Architectural photography -- United States -- Photographs Search this
Federal aid to the public welfare -- Photographs Search this
Papers documenting Stryker's career as the head of the Farm Security Administration's photographic section, including correspondence with John Collier, Jack Delano, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, Edwin Locke, Arthur Rothstein, John Vachon, Marion Post Wolcott and others; reports; articles on Stryker and the FSA; publications; speeches; photographs and miscellaneous materials.
Biographical / Historical:
Director of the Farm Security Administration Historical Section; Washington, D.C. Under Stryker the Photographic project of the FSA documented the drought, poverty and despair of rural and urban America during the Depression.
Provenance:
Papers lent for microfilming 1963-1966 by Roy Stryker.
An interview of John Vachon conducted 1964 April 28, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art.
Vachon speaks of how he started on the Farm Security Administration project; getting started as an FSA photographer; helping to organize the photograph file; early assignments as a photographer; the influence of Walker Evans; making decisions about the subject matter of the photographs; the growth of the FSA project; the difference between being a photographer for LOOK magazine and for the FSA; his philosophy of photography; and his most memorable experiences with the FSA. He recalls Roy Stryker.
Biographical / Historical:
John Vachon (1914-1975) was a photographer from New York, N.Y. Vachon worked under Roy Stryker on the Farm Security Administration's Photography project. Also worked for LOOK magazine.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 3 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
A letter from Archie Robertson to Stryker about traveling photographic exhibitions; 2 manuscripts on the origins of the FSA and containing biographical information of Stryker, the staff, and photographers on the project; a photograph of a poem, "Merry Christmas to Stryker"; "Stryker's Credo," a statement he made upon leaving the "Jersey Company" (Standard Oil); "The Children of Esso," 1948 by John Vachon, a psalm-like parody about Stryker and his affiliation with Standard Oil; and a copy of "Their Blood is Strong," 1940 by John Steinbeck on migratory agricultural workers in California illustrated with photos by Dorothea Lange for the FSA, signed by Steinbeck.
Biographical / Historical:
Director of the Farm Security Administration Historical Section; Washington, D.C. Under Stryker the Photographic project of the FSA documented the drought, poverty and despair of rural and urban America during the Depression.
Provenance:
Donated 1965 by Roy Stryker.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
A photograh of Grand Central Station's mural "Past Pearl Harbor"; A photograph of Helen D. Wool; and a group photo of Jack Delano, John Vachon, Edwin Rosskam, John Collier, Edwin Locke, Russell Lee, and Roy E. Stryker.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
Federal aid to the arts -- Photographs Search this
Federal aid to the public welfare -- Photographs Search this
An interview of Edwin and Louise Rosskam conducted 1965 August 3, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art, at their home, in Roosevelt, N.J.
Edwin Rosskam speaks of his background and youth in Germany; coming to the United States; his education in painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; the early development of his interest in photography; getting his photojournalism career started; joining the Farm Security Administration and working under Roy Stryker; the view of America presented by the work produced by the FSA; photography exhibits he has done; the effect upon him of the people he met and photographed during his FSA career; the political impact of the FSA; applications and uses of the photographs produced by the FSA; the project's strengths and weaknesses; books and other projects he has contributed to. He recalls Roy Stryker, Dorothea Lange, Marion Post Wolcott, John Vachon, and the novelist Richard Wright. Louise Rosskam discusses the impact upon her of the people who were photographed, propagandistic aspects of the work, and the impact of the FSA project on photojournalism.
Biographical / Historical:
Edwin (1903-1985) and Louis Rosskam (1910-2003) were photographers from Roosevelt, N.J.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 49 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Just before the war : urban America from 1935 to 1941 as seen by photographers of the Farm Security Administration : from the collections of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. / organized by Newport Harbor Art Museum, Balboa, California
