America during the First Economic Crisis
Color photographs of the Great Depression. Recently, the Library of Congress has released a selection of 1,700 previously unpublished photographs of the era of the end of the Great Depression - the late 30s and early 40s. Here are the most expressive pictures that allow you to see the first global economic crisis in color.
A house in Houston, Texas, May 1943. Photographer John Vachon (1914-1975)
Prayer before lunch at the fair, Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940. Photographer Lee Russell (1903-1986)
The beginning of the holiday dinner, Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940. Photographer Lee Russell (1903-1986)
3 photos taken at a fair in Rutland, Vermont, September 1940. Photographer Jack Delano
William London, railroad worker with 25 years of experience, Melrose Park, near Chicago, Illinois. The photo was taken in the early 1940s
A marshalling yard in Chicago, Illinois, 1942. Photographer Jack Delano
Unladylike work: Viola Sievers washes an H-series locomotive in Clinton, Iowa, April 1943
Joseph Klensken washes up after a working day at a marshalling yard in Chicago. Photographer Jack Delano
Freight Locomotive Depot in Chicago, Illinois, May 1943
Unloading of wagons at the Chicago depot, April 1943. Photographer Jack Delano
Dancing couples, McIntosh County, Oklahoma, 1939 or 1940. Photographer Lee Russell (1903-1986)
Farm Auction, Derby, Connecticut, September 1940
Children harvest potatoes in fields near Caribou, Maine. Schools did not open until the harvest was harvested. October 1940
A shop in Lincoln, Nebraska, 1942
Women railroad workers on their lunch break, Clinton, Iowa, April 1943
Surplus Sale, St. John's, Arizona, October 1940
On a plantation owned by the Department of Agriculture, Louisiana, 1940
Preparation of land for cotton planting, Greaney County, Georgia, June 1940
Construction of the Shasta Dam in California, June 1942
Cornfields along the river, northeast Tennessee, May 1940
Oat harvesting, southeast Georgia, circa 1940
Corn harvesting near Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940
Children sitting on the car. The photo was taken next to the Department of Agriculture labor camp near Robston, Texas, January 1940
A garden laid out next to Jack Weenery's dugout, Pie Town, New Mexico, September 1940
Farmer Jim Norris, Pie Town, New Mexico, September 1940
A used plumbing store in Brockton, Massachusetts, December 1940
Sugar cane workers, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, December 1941
Main Street Grid, Colorado, December 1940
Fertilizer cart (circa 1940)
Rodeo in Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940
A boy from Cincinnati, Ohio, 1942 or 1943
Farmer with children at a barbecue, Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940. Photographer Lee Russell
Farmer Jack Weenery and his family, Pie Town, New Mexico, September 1940. Photographer Lee Russell
The Parris Island barrage balloon, May 1942. Photographer Alfred Palmer
Sylvia Sweets Tea Shop, Brockton, Massachusetts, December 1940 or January 1941. Photographer Jack Delano
Trucks of the starch factory in Caribou, Maine, October 1940. Photographer Jack Delano
Photo from Georgia (?), circa 1940
Scrap metal warehouse in Montana, October 1940
Children assemble a model airplane, Robstown, Texas, January 1942. Photographer Arthur Rothstein (1915-1985)
Farmer Jim Norris and his wife, Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940
Tying a ribbon on a calf's tail before a rodeo in Pie Town, October 1940
Pre-sorting oranges before shipping, Redlands, California, March 1943
Virginia Young (right), head of the repair shop at the Naval base in Texas. Her husband became one of the first victims of the United States in World War II. August 1941, photographer Howard Hallem.
Lucille Mazurek, 29, a former housewife whose husband was drafted into the army, works at a factory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, February 1943. Photographer Howard Hallem