An interview of Carl Mydans conducted 1964 Apr. 29, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art.
Mydans speaks of his background in photography and photojournalism; joining the Farm Security Administration staff; Roy Stryker as a catalyst for creativity; some of his outstanding experiences with the FSA; styles of different photographers; the significance of the FSA in American history, and how it changed Americans' awareness of other Americans; subjects of his photographs and their treatment of him; the influence of his fellow FSA photographers; technological changes in photography.
Biographical / Historical:
Carl Mydans (1907-2004) was a photographer, associated with the Farm Security Administration.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 28 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.
United States. Farm Security Administration.Historical Section.Photographs Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Arthur Rothstein, 1964 May 25. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Documentary photography -- United States Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
An interview of Arthur Rothstein conducted in New York, N.Y., 1964 May 25, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art.
Rothstein speaks of the development of his interest in photography as a hobby while in pre-medical school during the Depression; meeting Roy Stryker and his early impressions of Stryker; the Resettlement Administration and its growth into the Farm Security Administration (FSA); the educational experience of working under Stryker's guidance; the influence of Ben Shahn and Walker Evans; the traveling experience and its influence on him; early assignments; developing as a photographer; documenting the Dust Bowl; the "skull" series and the controversy surrounding it; usage of the FSA works; the FSA's contribution to Rothstein's life and personal development; and going to work for LOOK magazine. He recalls Carl Mydans and Russell Lee.
Biographical / Historical:
Arthur Rothstein (1915-1985) was a photographer from New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 11 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.
Topic:
Documentary photography -- United States Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Roy Emerson Stryker, 1963-1965. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Roy Emerson Stryker conducted 1963-1965, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art, at the artist's home, in Montrose, Colorado.
Stryker speaks of his youth; early career in ranching and social work; the origin of the photography project in the Farm Security Administration; bureaucratic problems; photography and journalism; photographers on the project; subjects' reaction to being photographed; public perception of the FSA project; Paul Vanderbilt's work with the project's photographs; ethics of the photographers and staff; interaction between the photographers and subjects; the influence of earlier documentary photographers, such as Matthew Brady and Lewis Hine; political and media problems with the project; use of the photographs as a force in social change; and other issues surrounding the FSA photography project. He recalls Jack Delano, John Vachon, Edwin Rosskam, Arthur Rothstein, Rexford Tugwell, John Collier, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, Carl Mydans, Ben Shahn, and Marion Post Wolcott.
Biographical / Historical:
Roy Emerson Stryker (1893-1975) was the director of the Farm Security Administration Historical Section of 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.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 8 hr.
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.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
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
