Florence Owens Thompson's Migrant Mother

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Migrant Mother is a photograph that exemplifies the difficult role of being a single mother during difficult times and has even become a symbol of the Great Depression. As a photo taken of a woman and by a woman, Migrant Mother was revolutionary for its time. While the photograph was hugely popular and successful in raising awareness and donations, it was not so successful in telling the true narrative of its subjects - Florence Owens Thompson and her children. It is important to understand the context of the time and place that this photograph was taken. In 1936, it had been 16 years since women gained the right to vote. Many of the men in the 1930’s were away at war, leaving the women to fend for themselves. This meant that there were many …show more content…

They were an agricultural family who stopped in the area after their car broke down. Additionally, Thompson was not a single mother. Her first husband had died in 1931 and she later married a man named Jim Hill who was the father to her 6th and youngest daughter, Norma (Pruitt 2024). All this is to say how easy it is to paint a narrative. Lange did not ask for all the details of Thompson’s life, but she also left out much information that may have changed society’s views on the photograph and might have even made it less successful. So how is it that this photo came to be so popular? Well, one of the best ways to get people to feel charitable is to show them a video of a homeless puppy, a homeless orphan, or a photo of a single mother struggling to feed her children. People naturally feel emotions when viewing media depicting things like these and want to do something to help. This false narrative of Migrant Mother that people seemed to have adopted of a struggling single mother on a pea picking farm made the American public feel sorry for Thompson and others like her and eventually led to donations and government

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