Scope and Content Note
The papers of Jack Delano (1914-1997) span the years 1927-1995, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period 1941-1943. From 1939 to 1943, Delano worked as a photographer first for the Farm Security Administration and then for the Office of War Information under the direction of Roy Emerson Stryker. His photographs depicted the Great Depression and documented the railroad industry from Chicago, Illinois, to New Mexico, life in Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, Acadian farmers in Maine, and the American South, particularly Greene County, Georgia. Delano was often accompanied on these trips by his wife, Irene Delano. Most photographs from the collection are housed in the Prints and Photographs Division, but his notebooks and caption books are contained in these papers. Of interest also is correspondence concerning Delano's photography, an oral history interview conducted by the Archives of American Art, and material related to Elizabeth Kenny.