MARCH -- WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH -- FEATURING DOROTHEA LANGE'S FOLK PHOTOGRAPHS

Dorthea Lange

Library of Congress

Dorothea Lange began her career as a documentary photographer by signing on with the federal Resettlement Administration that eventually became the Farm Administration/Office of War Information. Her paid position, as it was for many other artists, was created by President Franklin Roosevelt to get people back to work during the Great depression that began in 1929 and lasted until 1941 when WWII began.


Her main assignment was to record the California migrants that were poring into the state looking for work. Depression unemployment figures reached a high of 25 percent in the U.S. In 1929, when the depression began,  60 percent of the country's wealth was held by the top 1 percent of the population. Sound familiar?

Florence Thompson with two of her seven children in a California migrant camp
Dorothea Lange -- Library of Congress

Dorothea was soon photographing folks that were the homeless and unemployed. The above 1936 photograph  known as "Migrant Mother" is one of a series of photographs that Dorothea Lange made of Florence Owens Thompson and some of her children in a California migrant camp.

In 1960, Lange gave this account of the experience:

"I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields and birds that the children killed.

She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean- to tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of a quality about it."

( From: Popular Photography, Feb. 1960).

Mississippi Delta Children -- 1936
Dorthea Lange -- Library of Congress

Dorthea continued working as a photographer through the Depression taking photos mainly in the southern and the western parts of the country. Her focus continued to be on the folks that suffered economically or for other injustices. 

GRANDMOTHER WITH HER HAND MADE QUILT -- 1936
Dorthea Lange --Library of Congress

Ms Lange's ability to capture the toughness of these folks that were trying to survive is amazing. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1960 for her excellency in photography.

EX-TENANT FARMER ON RELIEF IN IMPERIAL VALLEY CALIFORNIA -- 1937
Library of Congress
Dorthea Lange

In the photo above Dorthea captures determination and dignity in the face of an ex-tenant farmer. The emotions that she knew to focus on in her photos is touching.

Japanese children at a California public school participating in a pledge to the flag -- 1941
Dorothea Lange -- Library of Congress

In 1942 some of the Japanese children in the above photograph would in all likelihood be put into Japanese Internment camps with their families. Contradictory to this possibility was their sincerity of pledging to the American flag while their faces glowed in this Lange photo of 1941. 

Dorothea was not just a photographer recording people's  plights during the Depression -- she was gathering up the emotions of the folks that were the victims of social and economic injustices. The folks spoke back to her through her photographs releasing bold emotions in the face of adversity.

Dorothea Lange:  May 26, 1895 -- October 11, 1965 

this is a re-post from my 4/22/11 blog
 photos from Library of Congress archives


RESOURCES

Wikipedia Biography

Women Come To The Front

Library of Congress

VINTAGE 1800s PHOTO -- CHILDREN'S CLOTHES AND QUILTS

barbara judge's photo collection

Taken in the latter part of the 1800's, this vintage photo can tell you much about fashion as well as a certain type of quilt pattern that was part of the material culture at the time. The children are dressed to the "t" in undoubtedly early machine stitched clothing or even possibly hand sewn? The young boy has some type of straps on his long stockings, perhaps to keep them from slipping down his legs?

Perhaps the quilt, that was draped over the chairs was of special importance? Could it be one that was created for the photo taking session or perhaps made by a relative that the family loved? What stories can you conjure up in your mind with the various clues in this photo?

It was common to have photos taken outside as appropriate lighting was not available inside. One often finds old photos taken outside during this time period - usually taken by itinerant photographers who traveled the countryside. The background appears to be some type of canvas drop? 

Quilts have always fascinated me. Especially the old ones. June Calender's blog discusses many types of quilts that she either creates or visits at quilt shows. Her latest adventure with quilts is teaching the History of Quilts at her local Academy of Lifelong Learning. Also visit Mary's blog about her many quilt projects and then take a look at Kyra's Black Threads blog that features both old and new quilts and their creators. 

A neat way to date vintage photos is to examine its fabrics (if there are any) using a book on old fabrics for comparison.This will give you a close approximation of its date. Here is a reasonable priced book that can identify fabrics and their dates of manufacture, Dating Fabrics, a Color Guide - 1800 to 1960. Also a good book on early printed fabrics is one by Barbara Brachman. 

WILD GARDEN

I am not a poet. But sometimes words are produced when I look at certain objects. I don't really write the words. Something in my sub-conscience does. They just tumble out from the faucet of my mind. I took this photo a couple days ago for no apparent reason. Today when I looked at it I saw the inequities that abound in our country. My mind wrote the words in caps -- I think it was because emotionally I felt the critical drama that is being played out in our country. 



A WILD GARDEN GROWS NEAR MY SMALL WOODLANDS.

REMINDING ME.

SOME FOLKS ABHOR THE BLOOMS AND SEED PUFF BALLS THAT ARISE

THEY ARE SURVIVORS BEING SWORE AT AND CHEMICALLY SPRAYED.

THEY ARE IMMIGRANTS TO OUR LAND.

BUT CHILDREN LOVE THEM. MAKING SING-SONG AND DANDELION NECKLACES.

CHILDREN OF INNOCENCE WITHIN OUR MAD WORLD.

~ ~ barbara

APPALACHIAN CLOTHESPIN ROCKER

What fun children in Kentucky schools had putting together a miniature rocking chair made out of clothespins. Some schools in Appalachian Kentucky taught the craft that replicated what children saw everyday on front porches all across the countryside where they lived. Most folks, that I have talked with about the chairs, said they made them in elementary school around the mid 1900s. They seem to all feel it was great making them especially as it gave them a break from their studies.

HOLIDAY SPIRIT OF THE OLD RED ROCKER

OLD RED ROCKER

One Christmas eve, when I was a child, as I laid in bed listening for the sounds of Santa on the roof I overheard the the voices of my parents discussing a gift that I was to receive from Santa. It was a time when folks were still feeling the repercussions of the depression and WWII. Money was beginning to flow again in the economy yet people were still in the non-spending mode. 

The gift they were discussing was a hand-me-down cradle that was last used by my older sister. My father had just refinished it and put a chime on the rocker so that it played a tune when you rocked it. It was a lovely doll cradle by the time he had it all redone. I loved it when I saw it under the tree the next morning -- even though I knew it was a hand-me-down and not from Santa. I played along with the idea of Santa bringing it. 

OLD CLOTH TAPE SEAT AND LOTS OF WEAR MARKS

I had the cradle for many years. -- somewhere along my path of life I lost it. That  cradle had taught me many things about family and living according to ones values. 

STABILIZING WIRE

It taught me that my father, with love and kindness for his daughter, took the time to redo the cradle and add music to it. Also, it taught me the meaning of the phrase -- waste not, want not. My parents had to make do with what they had -- they didn't extend their tight budget to more than they had in their pocket. 

OLD REPAIR TO ONE OF THE ROCKERS

One day, later in life, I bought a child's worn old red rocking chair. It reminded me of the lessons I had learned from my cradle --  the  chair obviously had been used by several generations. There was evidence that the rocker had several problems at one time and that someone had lovingly fixed them.


The previous owners had  made  a seat with cloth tape, probably because the original splint seat had worn through. Also, one of the rockers had broken at some point and had been repaired in excellent fashion. Apparently, through use, the little rocker had become shaky --  so someone corrected the wobbling chair by repairing it with tightly twisted wire. All these repairs gave the rocker many leases on its long life. 

So when I remember my childhood cradle during the holiday season, I now look at the little red chair and know that it represents family, love, caring and reuse -- my idea of what the holiday season should be about.

APPALACHIAN "MAKE DO" DOLLS

1940s CLOTH DOLL 

In Appalachia, as well as other parts of the country, cloth dolls have been part of the culture as long as there has been fabric around to make them. Cloth dolls were both hand-stitched or machine-stitched or both types of stitching were found in one doll. The cloth dolls in this post average about 15 inches in height. 

I found these dolls in the Appalachian area. They probably are indigenous to the area however they could also be migrants from other parts of the country. No documented history came with these dolls. 

The above doll is more than likely from the 1940's. She has both hand stitching and machine stitching on her body as well as her clothes. The fabric appears to be 1940s plaid. The buttons also speak out 1940s. She is in excellent condition given her age.

CLOTH DOLL CLOSE-UP OF HAND-STITCHED FACE

A close-up of the cloth doll shows her hand stitched face. Hair is sewn on yarn. 

HAND-STITCHED CLOTH DOLL'S SHOES

Her cloth shoes made with the same material as the dress are capped by swirling buttons. The maker of the shoes even used a white material to indicate soles. 

HAND-STITCHED RAG DOLL

I would consider the doll in the charming rose floral dress above to be a "rag doll." Some use the term cloth and rag interchangeably. To me a rag doll looks rather primitive in its structure I would consider them a piece of folk art. . I sometimes wonder if these loosely made dolls were made by children.

HAND-STITCHED RAG DOLL

This guy in the blue polka dot pajamas has a happy smile on his face -- another doll that I would classify as folk art. Both the rose dress lady doll and the blue pajama guy have early printed fabric as clothes. They could or could not be original to the doll. 

Folk art can be found in many types of material including fabric. The cloth and rag dolls are part of our "make do" culture. Our doll history can be traced back to when this country began. 

Take a look around -- attics, yard sales, and second hand stores. You might just find one of these pieces of our folk culture.