"Squatter Camp" in Sacramento, California
3/15/1940
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The original caption for this photograph reads: Sacramento, California. Close-up view of squatter camp. This family lives in the car without a tent.
The image was captured by photographer Dorothea Lange during the Great Depression. Throughout the 1920s, Lange worked as a studio portrait photographer in San Francisco. However, by the height of the Great Depression, she turned her focus towards documenting people and her surroundings. Between 1935 and 1945, Lange worked for several federal agencies, most notably the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and the War Relocation Authority (WRA).
This photograph comes from a series taken by Lange for the Bureau of Agricultural Economics (BAE) as part of a "Community Stability and Instability" study that sought to understand why some agricultural communities succeed and others fail. The photographs document pre-World War II rural life and social institutions in Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
After WWII, Lange pursued freelance photography and worked for Life as a staff photographer.
The image was captured by photographer Dorothea Lange during the Great Depression. Throughout the 1920s, Lange worked as a studio portrait photographer in San Francisco. However, by the height of the Great Depression, she turned her focus towards documenting people and her surroundings. Between 1935 and 1945, Lange worked for several federal agencies, most notably the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and the War Relocation Authority (WRA).
This photograph comes from a series taken by Lange for the Bureau of Agricultural Economics (BAE) as part of a "Community Stability and Instability" study that sought to understand why some agricultural communities succeed and others fail. The photographs document pre-World War II rural life and social institutions in Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
After WWII, Lange pursued freelance photography and worked for Life as a staff photographer.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics.
National Archives Identifier: 521748
Full Citation: Photograph 83-G-41504; Sacramento, California. Close-up view of squatter camp. This family lives in the car without a tent.; 3/15/1940; Photographic Prints Documenting Programs and Activities of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics and Predecessor Agencies, ca. 1922 - ca. 1947; Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Record Group 83; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/squatter-camp-sacramento, January 18, 2025]Activities that use this document
- The Impact of the Great Depression: Photograph Analysis
Created by the National Archives Education Team
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