"Young migratory mother, originally from Texas," April 11, 1940
Famed documentary photographer Dorothea Lange took this photograph while on assignment for the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, one of several federal agencies Lange worked for during the 1930s and 1940s. The photographs in this series, taken by Lange and Irving Rusinow, document pre-World War II rural life and social institutions in Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
Full caption reads: "Edison, Kern County, California. Young migratory mother, originally from Texas. On the day before the photograph was made she and her husband traveled 35 miles each way to pick peas. They worked 5 hours each and together earned $2.25. They have two young children... Live in auto camp. " This item was produced or created on April 11, 1940. National Archives Identifier: 521780/Local Identifier: 83-G-41536. View in National Archives Catalog
View and download "Young migratory mother” in the National Archives Catalog. This photograph is part of Record Group 83, Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Series: Photographs Relating to Programs and Activities.
Lange’s photographs for the War Relocation Authority can be found in Record Group 210, Records of the War Relocation Authority, Series: Central Photographic File of the War Relocation Authority, 1942–1945.
You can explore more photographs held by the Still Picture Branch through the National Archives Catalog, through the Special Media Records Division blog: The Unwritten Record, on History Hub, or in person at our research room in College Park, MD.