Dorothea Lange, born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn, was a famous documentary photographer during the great depression. Lange was born on May 26th 1895 in Hoboken, New Jersey, and at age seven, contracted polio. Due to suffering from polio at a young age, Lange suffered weakness in her right leg, and had a limp throughout her adult life. At age 12, her father abandoned her family, causing her to ultimately drop her middle name, and replace her last name with her mother’s maiden name, Lange. She died at the age of 70, on October 11th 1965 in San Francisco from esophageal cancer, although Lange began to suffer from various health issues beginning at age 50. Lange enjoyed photography from a young age, and went on to study photography at Columbia University. She interned in New York City following her graduation, and then in 1918 she began to travel, eventually settling in California. Photo’s Lange published of homelessness during the Great Depression attracted attention, and the Farm Security Administration hired her. Dorothea Lange was employed by the federal agency the Resettlement Administration, later changed to the Farm …show more content…
In 1972, seven years after her death, the Whitney Museum of Art used 27 of her old photographs in an exhibit entitled, Executive Order 9066. In the exhibit featured events of her photos during the second world war, and the Japanese Internment. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Executive Order in February 1942, allowing the deportation of Japanese, Italian, and German-Americans to internment camps. Another event happened 34 years later, in 2006, when an elementary school was named in her honor. The school is located at Nipomo, California, and it’s actually the same exact location where her infamous, “Migrant Mother” photo was taken back in the
On February 1942, President Roosevelt issued an executive order, which was 9066 stating that Japanese Americans to evacuate their homes and live in an internment camp. This autobiographical called, “Farewell to Manzanar” by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston. Jeanne wanted to write this book to give details on her experience during World War II internment camps. “It is a story, or a web of stories my own, my father’s, my family’s -- tracing a few paths that led up to and away from the experience of the internment” (pg XI). Mrs. Houston had other books beside this particular book, some of the others were called, “Don't Cry, It’s Only Thunder” and “The Legend of Fire Horse Woman”. One of Jeanne Houston quotes is, “ The reason I want
It began when Roy Stryker was hired to organize and direct a group of photographers to convince congress that the families in the country needed help. The agency that all the photographers were hired to work for was called the Resettlement Administration. Because no one from congress could see what was really going on, Stryker had to find a way to use the pictures that were being taken in order to convince congress that those in the country needed help from the government. Now that you know about the background, I will be discussing two photographers that had a major impact on this particular project. From the very beginning of the FSA project, all of the photographers knew what they were getting themselves into when they agreed to work on this particular project. Now that you know some of the background that lead up to the start of the project, I will be discussing two photographers that had a major impact on this particular
Beginning in March of 1942, in the midst of World War II, over 100,000 Japanese-Americans were forcefully removed from their homes and ordered to relocate to several of what the United States has euphemistically labeled “internment camps.” In Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston describes in frightening detail her family’s experience of confinement for three and a half years during the war. In efforts to cope with the mortification and dehumanization and the boredom they were facing, the Wakatsukis and other Japanese-Americans participated in a wide range of activities. The children, before a structured school system was organized, generally played sports or made trouble; some adults worked for extremely meager wages, while others refused and had hobbies, and others involved themselves in more self-destructive activities.
Her father was a fisherman in Long Beach with her two oldest brothers working as his crew on his prideful fishing boat. The family lived in Ocean Park, a small town in Santa Monica, where they were the only Japanese family in their neighborhood. Her father liked it that way because the label of being Japanese or even Asian was trite. When the news that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, Jeanne and most of her family found themselves asking the same question: " What is Pearl Harbor?" (Houston 6) When the news came, her father seemed to be the only one to understand. He proceeded to burn his country's flag that he brought to the US with him wh...
http://www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/dorotheadix.html. This site gives another overview of Dorothea Dix’s early life and career highlights, but does so with an emphasis on her finding her religious home among ...
Dorothea Lange was born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn in Hoboken, New Jersey on May 25, 1895 to Henry Nutzhorn and Joanna Lange. In 1901 Martin, Dorothea’s brother, was born to the family. Only a year later, at the age of seven Dorothea contracted Polio, which left her with a weakened right leg and permanent limp. This was a point of contention between her and her mother in her early life. Her mother was concerned that her disfigurement
During World War II, after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans in the western United States were forced into internment camps because the government felt as though the Japanese were dangerous if they were not relocated. These camps were usually in poor condition and in deserted areas of the nation. The Japanese were forced to make the best of their situation and thus the adults farmed the land and tried to maximize leisure while children attempted to enjoy childhood. The picture of the internee majorettes, taken by internee and photographer Toyo Miyatake, shows sixteen girls standing on bleachers while posing in front of the majestic Sierra Nevada mountain range and desolate Manzanar background. Their faces show mixed expressions of happiness, sadness and indifference, and their attire is elegant and American in style. With the image of these smiling girls in front of the desolate background, Miyatake captures an optimistic mood in times of despair. Though this photograph is a representation of the Manzanar internment camp and, as with most representations, leaves much unsaid, the majorette outfits and smiling faces give a great deal of insight on the cooperative attitudes of Japanese Americans and their youth's desire to be Americanized in this time.
Eleanor Roosevelt was a First Lady during the time of the Great Depression. She made huge differences in the lives of women, youth and minorities.
As a society, we often judge people solely by what is said of them or by them; but not by what they did. We forget to take into account the legacy that one leaves behind when they sometimes fail at completing the current task. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the charismatic man who stood at the helm of American government during the most trying decade in our brief history, the 1930s, set out to help the “common man” through various programs. Many historians, forgetting the legacy of the “alphabet soup” of agencies that FDR left behind, claim that he did not fix the Great Depression and therefore failed in his goal. What this essay desires to argue is that those historians are completely right. Through his many programs designed to help the economy, laborers, and all people lacking civil rights, President Roosevelt did not put an end to the Great Depression; however he did adapt the federal government to a newly realized role of protector for the people.
She authored numerous sociological texts that are still referenced today, and was responsible for incorporating research and statistical data into the legislative process. She also initiated several investigations into child labor infractions in factories across the country. Her help in drafting Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Social Security Act of 1935 provided a foundation for the future of social security. Her extensive contributions to the betterment of conditions for numerous disenfranchised groups earned her the title of one of American history’s most influential women, and in 1976 she was inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame (New World Encyclopedia, 2017).
Could one women bring hope out of the Great Depression? Hope is what keeps people looking ahead and striving for new and better opportunities. The Great Depression was a time of despair and poverty in which people relied on hoped for a better life. One person who seemed to bring this hope to people was Eleanor Roosevelt. She was an activist, politician, diplomat, and first lady. The 1920s and 1930s brought a great despair from the Great Depression that made people searching for hope, which was inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt and even today she continues to bring hope.
Parry, Manon S. "Dorothea Dix (1802-1887)." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr. 2006. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. .
The photographers of the Farming Security Administration contributed to modern times both educationally and visually. Photographers like Russell Lee took photographs that not only captured the lives of those who suffered greatly with the Great Depression hovering over them, but also the emotions that these people felt. Russell Lee, like Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans found his opportunity to prosper during the Great Depression with his photographs that would document the average American life suffering the wrath of the Depression from either unemployment or lack of home or even both. ...
The saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” cannot be demonstrated more thoroughly than during The Great Depression, a time when there were not a lot of words to be said. The photograph of the “Migrant Mother,” taken in this time period, The Great Depression, has inspired me want to dig deeper into Dorothea Lange’s experience during that time period. When I first saw the photograph of the “Migrant Mother,” I could not get the image out of my head because it tugged at my heart and it is something I have wanted to learn more about since we discussed Dorothea Lange in class.
Beginning on Black Tuesday, October 29th, 1929, a total of 14 billion dollars was lost in America’s economy. Near the end of the week the 14 billion turned into a total of 30 billion dollars (The Great Depression Facts). Many events during the Stock Market Crash caused damage to the economy and lifestyle of the country, ending with recuperations from The Depression.