Oklahoma Migrants
Boosterism was (and is) a fact of American life. Postcards like the one below were used by Chambers of Commerce and farm organizations to promote the advantages of locales throughout the mid west around the turn of the 20th century.

Migrants


To Start You Thinking

1) Describe as carefully as you can the man's posture, look, and expression. What do they say about his experience?

2) Dorothea Lange's caption for her photos were simple narratives. Write your own caption for this photo giving your sense of its content.

3) Imagine that you were a writer working with Dorothea Lange as she took this picture. What questions would you like to ask this family?

Notes

photo by Dorothea Lange, August, 1936, part of America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black-and-White Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945, The Library of Congress, American Memory Collection

Last modified in June, 2019 by Rick Thomas