Whitewashing the Great Depression
The Atlantic|December 2020
How the preeminent photographic record of the period eclipsed people of color and shaped the nation’s self-image
By Sarah Boxer
Whitewashing the Great Depression

Quick, name one iconic Depression-era portrait each by Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Russell Lee. My guess is that you’d choose Lange’s Migrant Mother, a portrait of Florence Owens Thompson and her children taken in Nipomo, California, in 1936. For Evans, you’d probably pick a 1936 portrait of tight-lipped Allie Mae Burroughs standing before the wall of her family’s cabin in Hale County, Alabama. For Lee, you might draw a blank, but you’d likely recognize his 1937 group portrait Saturday Night in a Saloon, showing four drinkers in Craigville, Minnesota. (It was used in the opening sequence of the TV show Cheers.)

What’s my point? Each of the subjects in each of these pictures, produced by Farm Security Administration photographers, appears to be white. Although the photographers who worked for the FSA took many pictures of people of color—in the streets, in the fields, out of work—the Great Depression’s main victims, as Americans came to visualize them, were white. And this collective portrait has contributed to the misbegotten idea, still current, that the soul of America, the real American type, is rural and white.

This story is from the December 2020 edition of The Atlantic.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the December 2020 edition of The Atlantic.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE ATLANTICView All
Saint Dismas
The Atlantic

Saint Dismas

Carlito held one end of the rope, Omar the other.

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2024
Why Do Animals Play?
The Atlantic

Why Do Animals Play?

Scientists want an evolutionary explanation. But maybe the answer is simply: Its fun.

time-read
8 mins  |
April 2024
The Insider
The Atlantic

The Insider

Is Kara Swisher tearing down tech billionaires—or burnishing their legends?

time-read
10 mins  |
April 2024
A Bloody Retelling of Huckleberry Finn
The Atlantic

A Bloody Retelling of Huckleberry Finn

Percival Everett transforms Mark Twain’ classic.

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2024
THE SECRET GOSPEL
The Atlantic

THE SECRET GOSPEL

A Columbia history professor claimed that he discovered a sacred text with shocking details about the life of Jesus. Was it real?

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2024
AFTER THE MIRACLE
The Atlantic

AFTER THE MIRACLE

Cystic fibrosis once guaranteed an early deathbut a medical breakthrough has given many patients a chance to live decades longer than expected. What do they do now?

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2024
JODIE FOSTER'S LIFE ON-SCREEN
The Atlantic

JODIE FOSTER'S LIFE ON-SCREEN

SINCE CHILDHOOD, SHE'S STRUGGLED WITH ONE QUESTION: HOW MUCH DOES SHE WANT THE PUBLIC TO KNOW HER?

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2024
THE END OF THE GOLDEN AGE
The Atlantic

THE END OF THE GOLDEN AGE

ANTI-SEMITISM ON THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT THREATENS TO END AN UNPRECEDENTED PERIOD OF SAFETY AND PROSPERITY FOR JEWISH AMERICANS-AND DEMOLISH THE LIBERAL ORDER THEY HELPED ESTABLISH.

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2024
The Radio Squirrels of Point Reyes
The Atlantic

The Radio Squirrels of Point Reyes

\"Calling all. This is our last cry before our eternal silence.\" With that, in January 1997, the French Coast Guard transmitted its final message in Morse code.

time-read
2 mins  |
April 2024
THE GRUMPY ECONOMY
The Atlantic

THE GRUMPY ECONOMY

Why Americans trust feelings more than facts when it comes to prosperity

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2024