America from the Great Depression to World War II: Color Photographs from the FSA and OWI, ca. 1939-1945
Collection Overview
FSA-OWI Photographs, 1935-1945, includes color photographs of rural and small-town America and scenes of the World War II mobilization effort. Many now-famous photographers created these pictures while employed by a Depression-era government program. Black and white photographs are another component of this collection.
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Special Features
These online exhibits provide context and additional information about this collection.
Portrait Sampler of FSA-OWI Photographers
Historical Eras
These historical era(s) are best represented in the collection, although they may not be all-encompassing.
- The Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945
Related Collections and Exhibits
These collections and exhibits contain thematically-related primary and secondary sources. Browse the Collection Finder for more related material on the American Memory Web site.
- American Life Histories, 1936-1940
- California Gold: Folk Music from the Thirties, 1938-1940
- Women Come to the Front: Journalists, Photographers, and Broadcasters During World War II
Other Resources
Recommended additional sources of information.
There are currently no other resources for this collection
Search Tips
Specific guidance for searching this collection.
Black and white and color images may be searched separately or together. See the combined search page for a description of what is searched.
For a list of photography assignments by location, go to FSA Color Shooting Assignments and OWI Color Shooting Assignments. These pages provide lists of states represented in the collection.
Searching by place or topic will be more successful than searching by a specific date.
For help with search words, go to a FSA-OWI Subject Index and the Synonym List.
For help with search words, go to the Synonym List. For help with general search strategies, see Finding Items in American Memory.
Last Updated: 06/15/2009