The above image represents so many feelings and truths about
the life of the farmer during the depression. The house in
the middle of the farm is deserted, abondoned by the family
that so meticulously tended to the fields. It shows how hard
you must work in order to keep up a farm, yet also shows that
you also have to be lucky, or else all that hard work can
go to waste. Also, the complete solitude of the area shows
that you must be self sufficient, because there is no one
close by who can help you. You were on your own, and no matter
how hard you worked, you could end up seeing no return for
your effort.
On April 30, 1935, FDR's Executive Order created the Resettlement
Administration. Dorothea Lange's division of FERA was moved
into this new organization, whose job was to provide for
the refugees of the displaced farms. Dorothea had been working
in California, exclusively, but this new division would
have her work in Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona.
The new organization was sorely needed, as the conditions
in California alone were enough to warrant incredible attention.
The labor situation in California was unfair and was in
need of a major change. In the nineteen thirties, a tenth
of California's farms produced over half of the state's
crops. Small farms produced six percent of the state's total
agricultural output. The amount of labor required on the
big farms couldn't be met by the local residents; migrant
labor was incredibly important in the local economies. Often
times, there were three people working one job. The average
migrant family earned between 350 and 450 dollars a year,
when officials estimated the sustenance level at more than
twice those amounts.
Dorothea described her feelings upon seeing a migrant family
getting gas for their car: They looked very woebegone to
me. They were American whites. I looked at the license plate
on the car and it was Oklahoma. I got out and asked which
way were they going, were they looking for work? And they
said, "We've been blown out." I questioned what they meant,
and then they told me about the dust storm. They were the
first arrivals that I saw. These were the people who got
up that day quick and left. They saw they had no crop back
there. They had to get out. All of that day, driving the
next miles, I saw these people; and I couldn't wait - I
photographed them.
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