Publisher's Description
A Portrait of Missouri, 1935-1943
Photographs from the Farm Security Administration
Paul E. Parker
168 pages, 11 x 8-1/2, bibliography, index, appendix, 130 illustrations
'The photographs are engrossing. They show
the efforts of the Farm Security Administration to illustrate the problems of the 1930s
and the results of the programs designed by
the New Deal to address these problems. More
than simply being a vehicle of persuasion,
however, these photographs document the
way Missourians lived during the period.'
-Lawrence Christensen
Among FDR's New Deal programs
were those created to address rural
poverty and a depressed farm econ
omy. In 1935, several such programs were
consolidated into the Resettlement Administration, which in 1937 became the Farm Security Administration (FSA). By 1943, the FSA
had been phased out, but during its short life, it was at
the center of a turbulent battle over the shift from regional
to national authority. One way the FSA sought to defend
itself against political attacks was by building up popular
support through its Photographic Section, under the
direction of Roy Stryker.
Stryker, who was once referred to as 'the press agent
of the underprivileged,' directed a team of photographers
who documented American life in the thirties, seeking to
justify a new agricultural order. Seven of these photographers traveled in Missouri and produced a collection of
over 1,250 pictures. Drawing on those photographs, A Portrait of Missouri, 1935-1943 chronicles the photographers'
work, the programs they sought to promote, and slices of
life they captured in Missouri between 1936 and 1943.
Small town life, desperate farm conditions, urban renewal, and the 1939 sharecroppers' strike are all brought
to life in these intriguing photos. However, A Portrait of
Missouri, 1935-1943 is more than a picture book. Through
its introductory essay and comments woven throughout
the text, the book recounts the effects of the depression on
Missouri. It traces the changing nature of agriculture in
the early part of the twentieth century, with special attention to how social and economic changes were tied into
demands for political changes. The photographs from the
FSA file help the reader examine the growth of national
government and its intended and real effects on our lives.
Political realities, including limited resources that allowed the FSA to serve only a fraction of the population
that sought aid, and organized opposition based in part
on class and race, limited the achievements of the FSA.
Sixty years after its demise, the FSA is still seen as a savior
by some and a bedeviler by others. A Portrait of Missouri,
1935-1943 helps the reader better understand the debate
over the FSA, while providing a unique glimpse of mid-
western American life in the 1930s.
Paul E. Parker is Professor of Political Science at
Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri.