Dorothea Lange Documents America in Crisis - History Honors 250

The Great Depression. Images of Wall Street investors in bread lines filled major newspapers. But the struggle extended beyond big cities. One photographer set out to capture this reality and created an image forever burned in America's memory. After the start of the Depression, Dorothea Lange began to work outside of her San Francisco portrait studio, capturing the lives of people on the street. These photographs led the Resettlement Administration to recruit Lange and have her travel through the Midwest and West Coast. One year into this mission, she encountered Florence Owens Thompson. This photograph, named Migrant Mother, garnered nationwide fame and came to symbolize the challenges faced by families across America. Lange's images, now preserved in the Library of Congress, continue to provide a glimpse into this unprecedented time, revealing the faces of those who struggled most.