Photos: Rare Color Photos from the Depression Era
May 18, 2011 08:04 PM EDT
These vivid color photos taken during 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.
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 4-by-5 inches. They complement the better-known black-and-white FSA/OWI photographs taken during the same period.
See more photos in the second installment
Woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, Calif. Shown checking electrical assemblies
Source: US Library of Congress
Day laborers picking cotton, near Clarksdale, Miss. 1939 Nov.
Source: US Library of Congress
Instructor explaining the operation of a parachute to student pilots, Meacham field, Fort Worth, Tex.
Source: US Library of Congress
Gathering corn in the field, Pie Town, New Mexico
Source: US Library of Congress
Jim Norris, homesteader, Pie Town, New Mexico 1940 Oct.
Source: US Library of Congress
Lincoln, Nebraska
Source: US Library of Congress
Smokestack 1942
Source: US Library of Congress
Shasta dam under construction, California
Source: US Library of Congress
General view of a classification yard at C & NW RR's Proviso yard, Chicago, Ill.
Source: US Library of Congress
Mike Evans, a welder, at the rip tracks at Proviso yard of the C & NW RR, Chicago, Ill
Source: US Library of Congress
General view of a classification yard at C & NW RR's Proviso yard, Chicago, Ill
Source: US Library of Congress
Retiring a locomotive driver wheel, Shopton, Iowa. The tire is heated by means of gas until it can be slipped over the wheel. Contraction on cooling will hold it firmly in shape
Source: US Library of Congress
Ens[ign] Noressey and Cadet Thenics at the Naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas
Source: US Library of Congress
An army practice
Source: US Library of Congress
Photograph shows store or cafe with soft drink signs. Diamond-shaped sign: Fresh Orange-Crush"; above it: Relax and enjoy Royal Crown Cola.
Source: US Library of Congress
Day laborers picking cotton, near Clarksdale, Miss. 1939 Nov.
Source: US Library of Congress
Sawmill at the Greensboro Lumber Co., Greensboro, Ga
Source: US Library of Congress
Instructor and students studying a map, Meacham Field, Fort Worth, Tex.
Source: US Library of Congress
Jack Whinery, homesteader, and his family, Pie Town, New Mexico
Source: US Library of Congress
Cutting the pies and cakes at the barbeque dinner, Pie Town, New Mexico Fair. 1940 Oct.
Source: US Library of Congress
School children singing, Pie Town, New Mexico 1940 Oct.
Source: US Library of Congress
Garden adjacent to the dugout home of Jack Whinery, homesteader, Pie Town, New Mexico
Source: US Library of Congress
Loading cargo on a freighter in the harbor of Frederiksted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands. Because there is no pier, the ship must anchor far from shore
Source: US Library of Congress
Lincoln, Nebraska
Source: US Library of Congress
Answering the nation's need for womanpower, Mrs. Virginia Davis made arrangement for the care of her two children during the day and joined her husband at work in the Naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas. Both are employed under Civil Service in the Asse
Source: US Library of Congress
