An Appreciation

While browsing through the American Memory collections of the Library of Congress, I’m most focused on Georgia, of course. I’ve known of the Irwinville photographs since the late 1980s, but I’m surprised it’s taken me 25 years under their influence to discover that they may be the singular most important document of life in  Georgia during the Great Depression among their numerous contemporaries. There are well over 200 unique images, illustrating everything from agricultural improvement to electricity to health care for expectant mothers. Ultimately, the Farm Security Administration (FSA) photographers were underpaid artists, grateful to have jobs, who were the last to walk among the country crossroads that once gave life and light to America. This site, which I hope to be an interactive archive, exists to honor their world.  Please comment freely, especially when you have links to this community.

Innoculating a Hog for Cholera, Irwinville Farms

John Vachon/Library of Congress. (May 1938)

One of the main initiatives of the Farm Security Administration was the expansion of improved agricultural practices. Inoculation of livestock in rural areas was practically unheard of before the introduction of these programs.

Chester Foster Inspecting His Corn

John Vachon/Library of Congress. (May 1939)

I knew Chester Foster when I was boy and I always looked forward to visiting his home on Roanoke Drive in Fitzgerald and buying fresh eggs, usually with my grandmother and great-grandmother.

Cotton Gin at Irwinville

Arthur Rothstein/Library of Congress. (September 1935)

The craftsmanship in this old Lummus gin is amazing. South Georgia was still holding onto cotton as its chief crop, but by the late 1930s, agricultural diversity was a fact of life, and many farmers were learning the ropes with other crops.