Lange's Antecedents: The Emergence of Social Documentary Photography of California's Farmworkers

2006 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-428
Author(s):  
RICHARD STEVEN STREET
Keyword(s):  
Great Depression ◽  
Documentary Photography ◽  
Diverse Group ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Social Documentary ◽  
Dorothea Lange

Photographers focusing on California farmworkers are often described as heirs to a tradition that emerged midway through the Great Depression, mainly from the heroic efforts of one iconic photographer, Dorothea Lange. By calling attention to a diverse group of underappreciated antecedents who have never been linked together, this article presents a more sequential, less tidy account of how social documentary photography focused on farmworkers in the Golden State in the years before Lange moved out of her studio into the countryside. Without ever referring to their work as social documentary photography, these photographers, largely on their own and with little knowledge of one another, broke with standard commercial practices, turned a probing eye on the fields, recorded history as it unfolded, and created a visually stunning, realistic,often uncomfortable body of work.

The Grapes of Wrath as Fiction

PMLA ◽  
1957 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 296-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lisca
Keyword(s):  
Great Depression ◽  
Case Histories ◽  
High Class ◽  
Grapes Of Wrath ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Dorothea Lange

When The Grapes of Wrath was published in April of 1939 there was little likelihood of its being accepted and evaluated as a piece of fiction. Because of its nominal subject, it was too readily confused with such high-class reporting as Ruth McKenny's Industrial Valley, the WPA collection of case histories called These Are Our Lives, and Dorothea Lange and Paul S. Taylor's An American Exodus. The merits of The Grapes of Wrath were debated as social documentation rather than fiction. In addition to incurring the disadvantages of its historical position, coming as a kind of climax to the literature of the Great Depression, Steinbeck's novel also suffered from the perennial vulnerability of all social fiction to an attack on its facts and intentions.

Dorothea Lange

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-289
Author(s):  
Janie Hubbard
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
Documentary Photography ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Japanese Internment ◽  
Dorothea Lange ◽  
The Us

Purpose Dorothea Lange was one of the first US documentary photographers, and she was empowered by the belief that seeing the effects of injustice, in photographs, could elicit social and political reform. She famously documented the plight of Dust Bowl migrants during the US. Great Depression and harsh difficulties endured by incarcerated Japanese Americans during the Second World War. Lange’s photographs brought suppressed issues of class and race to the surface, depicting those impacted by national tragedies into recognizable, honorable, determined individuals. By showing Americans how suffering and injustice look in real life, she stimulated empathy and compassion. This inquiry is not particularly about the Great Depression or Japanese Internment, though disciplinary concept lessons would certainly support students’ prior knowledge. This lesson focuses students’ attention on broader ideas regarding social justice and how social and political documentary photography transform people’s views about distressing problems, even today. Supporting questions are: How can deep analysis of photographs affect our thoughts and emotions about social issues? What is empathy? How can social documentary photography affect people’s emotions? Supporting questions guide students to answer the greater compelling question, How can visuals, such as photographs, impact social change? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This is an inquiry lesson plan based on a National Council for the Social Studies Notable Trade book for Young People award winner, Dorothea’s Eyes, written by Barb Rosenstock. Findings The paper is a lesson plan, which incorporates students’ analyses of primary sources and other research methods to engage the learner in understanding how Dorothea Lange helped change perspectives regarding the need for social and political reform. Though the story is historic, similar social justice topics still persist, worldwide, today. Originality/value Through inquiry and research, students begin to learn how social and political documentary photography began in the USA, and students create their own social documentaries. Though the US Great Depression and Japanese Internment are highly relevant within this lesson, the overall, greater message is about class, race, suffering and how to inspire empathy.

Remaking the Heartland

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Wuthnow
Keyword(s):  
Great Depression ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Objective Observer ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Changing Times ◽  
Middle West

For many Americans, the Middle West is a vast unknown. This book sets out to rectify this. It shows how the region has undergone extraordinary social transformations over the past half-century and proven itself surprisingly resilient in the face of such hardships as the Great Depression and the movement of residents to other parts of the country. It examines the heartland's reinvention throughout the decades and traces the social and economic factors that have helped it to survive and prosper. The book points to the critical strength of the region's social institutions established between 1870 and 1950—the market towns, farmsteads, one-room schoolhouses, townships, rural cooperatives, and manufacturing centers that have adapted with the changing times. It focuses on farmers' struggles to recover from the Great Depression well into the 1950s, the cultural redefinition and modernization of the region's image that occurred during the 1950s and 1960s, the growth of secondary and higher education, the decline of small towns, the redeployment of agribusiness, and the rapid expansion of edge cities. Drawing arguments from extensive interviews and evidence from the towns and counties of the Midwest, the book provides a unique perspective as both an objective observer and someone who grew up there. It offers an accessible look at the humble yet strong foundations that have allowed the region to endure undiminished.

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