Dorothea Lange in Oregon: 1939 – FSA Photographs

*Four Rivers Cultural Center & Museum: Link

*Exhibit runs through December 23, 2011  

The Great Depression was a generational defining event that created many lasting memories and images in the American psyche. In literature, John Steinbeck captured the plight of tens of thousands of nameless families when he penned The Grapes of Wrath. The story focuses on the fictional Joad family, a clan of poor Oklahoma farmers who, after losing everything to the Dust Bowl and Depression, uproot and join the Okie Diaspora heading for California and other western states. Many grand buildings and monuments constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) still stand throughout America today. The Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood, Oregon, and Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas are all visited by thousands of tourists each year, though many are unaware that WPA laborers built these timeless structures during the height of the Depression. Finally, one popular photograph continues to represent the human element of Depression. You’ve likely seen it at some point in your life, though you may not be familiar with its name, or the person who snapped it.

The photograph is appropriately titled “Migrant Mother.” It was taken by the famous documentary photographer Dorothea Lange. Lange is best known for her Depression era work, when she traveled the country capturing images of unemployed men, migrant farming families, and other scenes of the American struggle.  Beginning in 1935, Lange worked for the Resettlement Administration, and later the Farm Security Administration (FSA), documenting the human effects of the economic malaise.  

In 1939, Lange visited the Pacific Northwest, and traveled extensively throughout Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Columbia Basin, Klammath Basin, and Josephine & Malheur Counties. An exhibit of 48 photographs from her 1939 Oregon trip is currently on display at the Four Rivers Cultural Center & Museum in Ontario, Oregon. The exhibit is both heartbreaking and timely, given our current economic conditions. Seventy years later, Lange’s talents convey stories through her photos, as if the viewer knew her subjects personally. Some of the highlights of the exhibit include:

• A young boy picking hops. The caption states that the boy is 11, and is working a farm outside of Independence, Oregon in the 105 degree midsummer heat.

• A photo of a service station along U.S. Route 99 - Josephine, Oregon.  A sign hangs in the service station window, guiding hop pickers to register inside. The bottom of the sign states that free tents, stoves, tables, wood, lights, and camp will be provided.

• A scene of a dugout church and its parishioners - Dead Ox Flats, Malheur County. The Ontario Heights Friends Church is literally dug into the ground and parishioners must enter by walking down a ramp to the front door in the earth. 

The Lange collection vividly portrays a period of history experienced by very few people alive today. Some of the photographs are somber and even depressing.  Many however give the viewer hope, depicting families standing together and working against the odds to better their position in life.  The exhibit runs through December 23, and anyone in the Ontario area should stop in and discover the real scenes of this important era in American history.  

‘Til next time, this is the Ungentlemanly Explorer, signing off!