As we pass into a new year we’re always reminded by our elders to appreciate what we have, but it can be hard to realize just how many blessings we have without seeing what life would be like if we went without. Here are 15 amazing photos during The Great Depression in Georgia. Some will shock you, others will leave you in awe, and all will remind you just how much we all really have.
- Cotton sharecroppers working hard for barely anything in Greene County, GA- June 1937.
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-DIG-fsa-8b32081
- A family hitchhiking back to Alabama in Macon, GA. The father is a sewing machine, lawn mower, etc. mechanic that can’t afford the $25 license required to to do this work in Georgia. - July 1937
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017791
- Turpentine “chipper” and slashed tree near Homerville, Georgia. - July 1937
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017841
- African American boys playing in a creek near Valdosta, GA. - July 1937
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017817
- Landless family in Macon, GA - July 1937
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017863
- 13 year-old sharecropper in Americus, GA - July 1937
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-DIG-fsa-8b32269
- Child of a sharecropper who only receives $5 per month as a “furnish” from landowners.
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-DIG-fsa-8b32270
- Farmer who has just moved into impoverished Greene County, Georgia from the Georgia hills - July 1937
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-018120
- Lee Betties, rural rehabilitation client, leaving a general store with a sack of horse and mule feed on the back of his wagon in Woodville, Greene County, GA - May 1939
Marion Post Wolcott via Library of Congress/LC-USF33-030341
- May Day-Health Day queen and her attendants at Irwinville Farms, GA - May 1939
Marion Post Wolcott via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-051609
- Farm wage hand (makes 75 cents per day) and his young wife looking at the remains of their burnt down home in Greene County, GA - May 1939.
Marion Post Wolcott via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-051746 It was so difficult in these days and a set back like this one was twice as worse as it would be today.
- Rolling store that sells hardware, dry goods, drugs, and a variety of household and farming goods near Montezuma, GA - May 1939.
Marion Post Wolcott via Library of Congress/LC-USF33-030398
- Home of a family that travels with other families that repairs stalls, stoves, houses, and other odd jobs near Atlanta, GA - 1939
Marion Post Wolcott via Library of Congress/LC-USF33-030331 These families literally lived in tents and moved from place to place as nomads just to survive.
- A little farm boy on Irwinville Farms in May 1938.
John Vachon via Library of Congress/LC-USF33-T01-001169
- Children attending the flag raising at Irwinville School in Georgia - May 1938.
John Vachon via Library of Congress/LC-USF33-T01-001180 While these children do appear happy, notice that they don’t have on any shoes. Certainly a sign of the times where people couldn’t even afford to buy their children shoes.
What do you think of these photos? Aren’t they fascinating? Make sure to share these with your friends, children, and other relatives so that they may see just what life was for Georgia folks during The Great Depression.
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-DIG-fsa-8b32081
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017791
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017841
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017817
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017863
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-DIG-fsa-8b32269
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-DIG-fsa-8b32270
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-018120
Marion Post Wolcott via Library of Congress/LC-USF33-030341
Marion Post Wolcott via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-051609
Marion Post Wolcott via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-051746
It was so difficult in these days and a set back like this one was twice as worse as it would be today.
Marion Post Wolcott via Library of Congress/LC-USF33-030398
Marion Post Wolcott via Library of Congress/LC-USF33-030331
These families literally lived in tents and moved from place to place as nomads just to survive.
John Vachon via Library of Congress/LC-USF33-T01-001169
John Vachon via Library of Congress/LC-USF33-T01-001180
While these children do appear happy, notice that they don’t have on any shoes. Certainly a sign of the times where people couldn’t even afford to buy their children shoes.
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