For many people, the world of Depression-era photography in the United States can be characterized by the somber black-and-white images of rural poverty or by the vivid depictions of everyday struggles. Interestingly enough, there were a number of color images taken by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information from the years 1939 to 1943. The Library of Congress has created a delightful digital exhibition of these images to complement a current exhibition in their headquarters in Washington, DC. Visitors to the site can read an introductory essay on the collection, and then begin by perusing photographs of small children at the Vermont State Fair, homesteaders in New Mexico, and a street corner in Dillon, Montana. The site is rounded out with a link to the entire collection of color photographs hosted by the Library of Congress’s American Memory Project.
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