![]() |
1930s-40s in Color
|
These vivid color photos from the Great Depression and World War II capture an era generally seen only in black-and-white. Photographers working for the United States Farm Security Administration (FSA) and later the Office of War Information (OWI) created the images between 1939 and 1944.
We invite your tags and comments! Also, more identification information. (The current titles come from the agency's original documentation, which was sometimes incomplete.)
The FSA/OWI pictures depict life in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, with a focus on rural areas and farm labor, as well as aspects of World War II mobilization, including factories, railroads, aviation training, and women working.
The original images are color transparencies ranging in size from 35 mm. to 4x5 inches. They complement the better-known black-and-white FSA/OWI photographs, made during the same
period.
The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division preserves
the original photographs and offers the digital copies to ensure their wide availability.
For more information about the collection and to see the approximately 171,000 black-and-white photos, visit:http://www.loc.gov/pictures/co llection/fsac/
1,615 photos | 3,114,560 views
Comments on this set
![]() |
hello daisy! says:Wow, this collection is amazing- I could easily and happily spend hours browsing through them. Thank you for making these available! |
![]() |
Robert & Kristin says:Love these photos. Thanks for making these available! |
![]() |
dcschaub says:Amazing! What a resource to have readily available. |
![]() |
Mixmaster
|
![]() |
davidoRex says:Agreed. A great revelation. |
![]() |
fuzzydice says:These photos make me really happy. |
![]() |
John Shao says:This is an amazing undertaking - I hope we'll see more collections, and I hope you'll consider keeping them around :) |
![]() |
Clare A was W
|
![]() |
Ken-ichi
|
![]() |
Chris Arace
|
![]() |
solsticeviolet says:I have never been able to truly envision this era in color, and now I CAN. I cannot tell you how amazing and insightful this is to me! I hope you continue adding similar collections to Flickr. What a great resource and a joy to see. |
![]() |
xnyldotnet says:I couldn't agree more with the previous comments. These photos are an excellent resource for art and history. |
![]() |
lastleaf says:It's such a joy to see these photos, and so important for posterity. |
![]() |
Valendon
|
![]() |
vercellink says:Thanks for sharing with us this collection. |
![]() |
Fanny Brown Rice
|
![]() |
.Kai says:That is such a great idea. It will be a long night for me. The first samples I flipped through were amazing. |
![]() |
George Pollard says:What an absolutely wonderful collection! I hope the scheme is a big success and more collections are added soon. |
![]() |
Photon Fiend says:great idea to make all of this public. Please keep it up and upload more collections |
![]() |
Miss_Robot
|
![]() |
Emily Barney
|
![]() |
Briggate.com
|
![]() |
MÔÔNÇhyld
|
![]() |
weg3 says:It is absolutely incredible to see all of these pictures...what a great idea to put them up on Flickr for all to see!! |
![]() |
13_mal_q [deleted] says:Amazing...! |
![]() |
tjwilde says:This is such an amazing resource for artists, writers, and historians. Thank you! |
![]() |
rmcarrier1
|
![]() |
Maly B. says:I am so happy to see this collection here! |
![]() |
exit78
|
![]() |
Liberté, Égalité, Safari says:These are fantastic! I'm so happy to see such a powerful and at times even provocative collecation. Kudos LOC! |
![]() |
victoriafee says:amazing... what a good idea to put them on flickr. hope to see more! |
![]() |
missapril1956
|
![]() |
gerardavid
|
![]() |
jj03ker says:great |
![]() |
flclkris says:I agree with some other comments, it really changes your perception to see such clear images of the era. After seeing this collection I think I can see history in a different light. |
![]() |
djbones says:Everybody at the LOC, thank you SO much for making these images available to us. You are doing an amazing public service. |
![]() |
My name's axel
|
![]() |
jelens
|
![]() |
Birgitta Seegers
|
![]() |
Stan W. \\ pause photographique says:yeaahh super, amazing pics, very nice idea!! |
![]() |
toscky says:WoW!!! |
![]() |
zona di fotographia says:Just a great idea... |
![]() |
Vlad A says:Incredible piece of history. Thank you for this amazing project. |
![]() |
Stew Stryker
|
![]() |
carouselle10 says:Photos such as these are the closest thing we have to time travel. I know I'll be spending a lot of time with these. |
![]() |
GMMiles
|
![]() |
sylkyred1
|
![]() |
artpease says:Wow - what a great set of photos and neat tools to work with. You folks need to make sure that teachers, especially of geography and US History, know about this resource! |
![]() |
pronetos says:It would be cool to have the black and white FSA photos up here. Possibly the LOC could start with groupings from the western states? All of the photos were captioned with notes written by the photographers themselves, but often those field notes are not attached to the photos online. If the photos were available, scholars could fill in the blanks . . . |
![]() |
pronetos says:It would be cool to have the black and white FSA photos up here. Possibly the LOC could start with groupings from the western states? All of the photos were captioned with notes written by the photographers themselves, but often those field notes are not attached to the photos online. If the photos were available, scholars and interested parties could fill in the blanks . . . |
![]() |
ultramarineblue says:This is the coolest thing ever!!! LOVE it! |
![]() |
RIPizzo
|
![]() |
L A I D L E R says:Truly amazing for so many reasons |
![]() |
Pulp_Affliction says:Best. Flickr. Set. Ever. |
![]() |
pixelnaiad
|
![]() |
Antonia Quest Photography/Larry Moore
|
![]() |
Gnarlodious says:It is a huge amount of work to scan, process and upload all this celluloid. Money well spent. Thank you for making these fine photos available to the general public. This is an excellent example of what the internet is for. |
![]() |
solarcea says:From one photo archivist to another, WOW! Job well done! I'm also very grateful that you made these images available on the public domain as it is so very important to preserve and utilize our visual history. BRAVO!! |
![]() |
Julianne Lien says:Best idea I've seen in long time. Wonderful, but large number is daunting. Perhaps if collection were broken down into sets by state, commonwealth and territory it would make browsing easier. |
![]() |
trialsanderrors
|
![]() |
almostmls says:It's Rosie the Riveter! |
![]() |
torriseng says:Stunning pictures! Thank you for bringing these to the public. It's like traveling in a time machine (as if I know how that would be like...). World heritage is a keyword. Keep up this great work. |
![]() |
dianainguitar says:喜欢! |
![]() |
Josh Oakhurst says:Thanks for making these available. It's great the LBoC has a Flickr account. Soo cool. |
![]() |
croqueta0
|
![]() |
julz91
|
![]() |
Benjamin Alijagić says:Great pictures. |
![]() |
KeeKee2 says:Absolutely amazing to think that was only 60 to 70 years ago. Those pictures make it more real. Thanks so much for sharing this with us. |
![]() |
coursgratuits.net says:Very good hisory pictures |
![]() |
Otkuda! (Gone sometimes) says:What a treasure, this is incredible! Personally, I find the industrial pictures breathtaking. Also the 'Rosie the Riveter'-pics are great, really informative! Thank you! |
![]() |
mistranslatedcap says:A fantastic collection! |
![]() |
Pet_r
|
![]() |
Spirit of Boz says:amazing set ! |
![]() |
Branddobbe says:I love this set! When are we going to see more from it? |
![]() |
johanbl
|
![]() |
airwhale says:These are pictures with a purpose, I'm sure. They are stunningly beautiful, many times staged for composition and lighting, but their real purpose is to show any enemy (Hitler, Mussolini, the Emperor of Japan) that they will get their asses kicked. It's an end-to-end documentation of the glorious US war machine - fit and able youngsters work side by side with skilled engineers and craftsmen, from the mines, to the transportation by rail to the foundries, creation and assembly of awesome machines - lots of them. It's also showing that the girls/wives are doing their part on the home front - a nation united. The images of wonderful farmland speaks loudly - we're not running out of food for our troops any time soon! ...and man, it IS an impressive show of force indeed. (Not to mention the spectacular photography. Please remember that we all have better equipment than these guys had :-) |
![]() |
robertjkeil says:Thank you for making this material available. These images are so important to our shared history. |
![]() |
leyvso
|
![]() |
LizBallerPhotos
|
![]() |
Plastic Madness
|
![]() |
Dan K ™
|
![]() |
keshlam says:Is there any way to turn off the comment boxes? They're completely obscuring the images, to the point where I've given up on trying to view the set. |
![]() |
history_aficionado says:It's just a pity that the pictures are covered with mindless and inane comments. Otherwise they're a fantastic collection. |
![]() |
laurelr1018 says:What a wonderful collection! Thank you for sharing these!!! |
![]() |
star_cosmos_bleu
|
![]() |
Joseph Khakshouri says:What a treasure! Thank you for making this so easily accessible! |
![]() |
Claudio © says:Magnificas fotografías históricas. |
![]() |
FERRAN1967 says:Una experiencia visual impresionante. Colores y texturas indelebles. Felicidades!!!!! |
![]() |
Subliminale says:Superba raccolta storica congratulazioni!!! |
![]() |
::mobiusfaith:: before & after [deleted] says:This whole set is really, I mean REALLY amazing!!!! |
![]() |
grace@brusa says:Bellissima, grazie per averla condivisa su internet. Alcune foto le conoscevo già, ma così raccolte non le avevo mai viste. |
![]() |
eeprom_one says:cool! |
![]() |
KaraJoe..Peace and Joy says:One of the best set's I seen |
![]() |
Tony_G7 says:Wow..Wow!!!! Truly Amazing captures of life in stunning color. Wonderful photographic gems. |
![]() |
claren44
|
![]() |
Jon Sagara says:These are pure gold. Thanks for sharing! |
![]() |
mr. Wood
|
![]() |
Un Milonguero Mejicano
|
![]() |
zerega says:Part of the collection in German: |
![]() |
julielarkey says:words cant describe, wow, felt like i was just at a old family reunion and got to meet my ancestors, ty, we take for granted everything we have today, they had soo much less and made the best of it, they had soo much more strife and took in stride, not like us, ty, ty ty.. start my day off with a new smile and sense of pride, gratitude and peace. |
![]() |
Jon's Digital Darkroom says:Jon D 53, Great part of history that should be preserved and enjoyed by everyone. Nice to knowthere was a little color in such dark times! |
![]() |
Davide Caravella says:Thank you for your great work! I knew that era by only black and white photos. Somehow seem closer to our everyday life. |
![]() |
Eclairs - Davide Bignotti
|
![]() |
BaSH PR0MPT says:There are some absolutely amazing photos in this set, and a lot of talented commentors too. Been prowling around this comment list to evaluate my peers. If anyone reading this wants to friend me, or add me on Twitter (@bashpr0mpt) feel free to hit me up, always looking to meet new folks. :) |
![]() |
Flussreiter says:Love this set. |
![]() |
ArtFromPixels says:Does anyone know of any tutorials for this? I've done it before in Photoshop by being told what colors the owner "thought" they were but these look like there's a systematic way of figuring out which colors go where. |
![]() |
johanbl
|
![]() |
johnnymnemonic26 says:Stunning pictures I should say. Anyone knows what type of camera had been used on this? 30-40s era have rare colored pics, but judging from the pic above with dark background, how did the color stand out? Anyone know how to duplicate this "color" results using Photoshop or Gimp? |
![]() |
johnsbrana says:Love this set. The pictures are amazing! |
![]() |
The Daring Librarian
|
![]() |
Blissster says:Thanks so much for posting all of these great treasures. |
![]() |
moelauher
|
![]() |
Salman1993 says:Awesome pics .. Amazingly Sharp ! www.howtoeditvideos.org |
![]() |
futuremoviestar says:what is so amazing about these photos is how clean the planet looks even amongst the urban squalor or vacated, lonely outpost, the sky and surroundings lack today's taint and overuse of people having been there and done that. there is a pristine loveliness in all of these classic photos taken at time when the rush and wasting of it was of no concern to anyone. the thought never occurred. the day took as long as it took which in these cases was forever. to go back in time for just a moment of two. |
![]() |
Pagan Moth
|
![]() |
Sorcha333 says:These are so excellent! What a window on the past. Even though there are so many shots, I took my time to look at each and every frame and found it very enjoyable to see street life in New England in the 1940s (I wasn't born yet myself). |