Written records in the Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information Collection

Administrative Information

Provenance and Processing History

This finding aid has been adapted from Farm Security Administration, historical section: a guide to textual records in the Library of Congress, prepared by Annette Melville, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, 1985.

On January 14, 1944, Elmer Davis, director of the Office of War Information (OWI), formally offered to the Library of Congress, in accordance with a 1903 statute covering the transfer of Library materials, "the photographic equipment, files (including photographic prints, negatives, and file control materials), and office furniture" of the Washington Section, Overseas Picture Division, OWI. Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish accepted the transfer four days later.

Although OWI property, the photographic files had been begun by Roy E. Stryker in 1935 for the Historical Section, Division of Information, Resettlement Administration (RA). The Historical Section was absorbed by the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in 1937 and transferred to the Office of War Information in 1942. Until October 1943 the photographic activities of the unit were directed by Stryker. Thus, although the administrative affiliation of the Historical Section changed several times, the direction of the office remained in the same hands and many files survived intact.

From 1944 to 1946 the files were housed in the Library of Congress Photographic Section in the Auditor's Building at 14th Street and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. Inquiries regarding FSA-OWI photographs were maintained in separate Library of Congress files. In 1946 the office files, scrapbooks, captions, and photographic prints, negatives, and transparencies were moved to the Library of Congress buildings. A few files appear to have been weeded at some time before the move of the Library's Prints and Photographs Division to the James Madison Memorial Building in 1982.

This finding aid describes the surviving written records of the FSA-OWI photographic unit. Most of the written records were microfilmed in 1984.

The FSA-OWI photographic files, housed in the Prints and Photographs Division Reading Room, are available on Library of Congress microfilm and commercial microfiche. The microfiche set, prepared by Chadwyck Healey, Ltd., follows the broad regional and subject arrangement of the reading room files. The microfilms, on the other hand, are arranged by specific job assignment and provide access by photographer and location.

Lacy Dick, Alan Gevinson and Elisabeth Betz Parker assisted in preparing the material for filming. Finding aid encoded by Melissa Lindberg and Emma Esperon.

Microfilm

A physical microfilm version of part of these papers is available on twenty-three reels. Consult reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. Digitized copies of the microfilm are available through links in this finding aid.

Online Content

In 2017, the Library of Congress arranged for digitization of the microfilmed portion of LOT 12024. Digitized copies of the microfilmed portion of this collection are available through links in this finding aid. Digital or microfilm versions of the documents are served in order to preserve the fragile originals.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: LOT 12024, Reel number, Image number(s), Farm Security Administration, Textual Records, Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., [URL(s) for specific page(s) from online microfilm copy]

Related Materials at the Library of Congress

A. Prints and Photographs Division

Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Negatives and File Prints: The Prints and Photographs Division has black-and-white and color photographs created by the Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information in its collections. See information and images from the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives and the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Color Photographs in our online catalog. Original file prints are available for browsing in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. For further information about the collection and how it is arranged, see: "Background and scope of the collection."

B. Manuscript Division

The Library of Congress Manuscript Division holds personal papers of some FSA photographers, including the Gordon Parks papers, Arthur Rothstein papers, and John Vachon papers.

Related Materials at Other Repositories of FSA-OWI Textual Records

A. Archives of American Art, Washington, D.C.

From 1963 to 1965 Richard K. Doud collected information on federally-funded art programs of the New Deal for the Archives of American Art. Assisted by a Ford Foundation grant, Doud interviewed Roy Stryker, photographers, office staff, and government officials who had been instrumental in the FSA-OWI photo project. He also arranged for the microfilming of many personal papers lent by Roy Stryker and of selected documents at the Library of Congress and the National Archives. Doud's unpublished manuscript, microfilmed in 1984, as well as transcripts of the interviews are available at the Archives of American Art.

Transcribed Interviews with Richard Doud

• Charlotte Aiken (office staff, Historical Section) with Helen Wool (secretary, Historical Section). Washington, D.C. April 17, 1964. 42 pp.
• C. B. Baldwin (administrator, FSA, 1940-43). Greenwich, Connecticut. February 24, 1965. 34 pp.
• John Collier (photographer). Sausalito, California. January 18, 1965. 33 pp.
• Jonathan Daniels (administrative assistant to President Roosevelt). Raleigh, North Carolina. June 14, 1965. 10 pp.
• Jack Delano (photographer) and his wife Irene Delano. San Juan, Puerto Rico. June 12, 1965. 63 pp.
• Romana Javitz (picture librarian, New York Public Library). New York City, New York. February 23, 1965. 36 pp.
• Theodor Jung (photographer). San Francisco, California. January 19, 1965. 23 pp.
• Dorothea Lange (photographer). New York City, New York. May 22, 1964. 23 pages.
• Russell Lee (photographer) with his wife Jean Lee (writer, Historical Section). Austin, Texas. June 2, 1964. 41 pp.
• Robert Hudgens (official, RA-FSA). Chapel Hill, North Carolina. June 1, 1965. 27 pp.
• Carl Mydans (photographer). New York City, New York. April 29, 1964. 31 pp.
• Gordon Parks (photographer). New York City, New York. December 30, 1964. 16 pp.
• Edwin Rosskam (writer-photographer) with his wife Louise Rosskam (writer/ photographer). Roosevelt, New Jersey. August 3, 1965. 70 pp.
• Arthur Rothstein (photographer). New York City, New York. May 25, 1964. 31 pp.
• Ben Shahn (photographer). Roosevelt, New Jersey. April 14, 1965. 31 pp.
• Edward Stanley (executive news photo editor, Associated Press). New York City, New York. July 27, 1965. 22 pp.
• Roy Stryker (chief, Historical Section). Montrose, Colorado. October 17, 1963. 38 pp.; Montrose, Colorado. June 13-14, 1964. 94 pp.; Montrose, Colorado. January 23, 1965. 60 pp.
• Rexford Tugwell (administrator, RA, 1935-36) with his wife Grace Tugwell. Santa Barbara, California. January 21, 1965. 28 pp.
• John Vachon (photographer-office staff member, Historical Section). New York City, New York. April 28, 1964. 23 pp.
• Paul Vanderbilt (OWI and LC staff member). Madison, Wisconsin. November 10, 1964. 36 pp.
• Marion Post Wolcott (photographer). Mill Valley, California. January 18, 1965. 26 pp.
• Helen Wool (secretary, Historical Section) with Charlotte Aiken (office staff member, Historical Section). Washington, D.C. April 17, 1964. 42 pp.

Microfilms

• 3134. Richard Doud Papers. "An American Portrait: Photodocumentation by the Farm Security Administration," typescript (carbon copy) given by Richard K. Doud. 129 pp. Completed in 1965, this informative unpublished report is based on Doud's three-year research project. Filmed in 1984. Frames 392-532.
• FSA/WDC 1. Farm Security Administration Papers. Selected RA-FSA-OWI textual records held by the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Filmed in 1964. 1 reel.
• FSA/WDC 2. Farm Security Administration Papers. Selected RA-FSA textual records from Record Group 96, Farmers Home Administration. Relates largely to exhibits. Filmed in 1964. 1 reel.
• NDA 4. Roy E. Stryker Papers. Selected personal papers lent by Roy E. Stryker. Includes descriptive accounts and publications on the FSA. Filmed in 1964. 1 reel.
• NDA 8. Roy E. Stryker Papers. Selected personal papers lent by Roy E. Stryker. Includes Stryker's personal records, fieldwork outlines for photographers, and information on exhibits. Filmed in 1964. 1 reel.
• NDA 9. Roy E. Stryker Papers. Selected personal papers lent by Roy E. Stryker. Largely articles and publications on the FSA. Filmed in 1964-65. 1 reel.
• NDA 16. Helen Wool Papers. Photographs of FSA-OWI staff donated by Helen Wool. Filmed in 1964. Frames 1-8; Charlotte Aiken Papers. Photographs of FSA-OWI staff donated by Charlotte Aiken. Filmed in 1964. Frames 9-36.
• NDA 21. Jack Delano Papers. Letters received from Roy E. Stryker by Jack Delano, 1939-43. Lent by Jack Delano. Filmed in 1965. 1 reel.
• NDA 24. Roy E. Stryker Papers. Selected personal papers lent by Roy E. Stryker. Includes articles, miscellaneous correspondence, and speeches, 1935-64. Filmed in 1963-65. 1 reel.
• NDA 25. Roy E. Stryker Papers. Correspondence between Roy E. Stryker and Jack Collier, Jack Delano, Walker Evans, Edwin Locke, Arthur Rothstein, and John Vachon, 1935-43. Lent by Stryker. Filmed in 1964-65. 1 reel.
• NDA 26. Roy E. Stryker Papers. Correspondence between Roy E. Stryker and Arthur Rothstein (frames 1-77) and John Vachon (frames 78-320). Lent by Stryker. Filmed in 1964-65. 1 reel.
• NDA 30. Roy E. Stryker Papers. Correspondence between Roy E. Stryker and Marion Post Wolcott (frames 1-490) and Dorothea Lange (frames 491-917). Lent by Stryker. Filmed in 1966. 1 reel.
• NDA 31. Roy E. Stryker Papers. Correspondence between Roy E. Stryker and Russell Lee. Lent by Stryker. Filmed in 1966. 1 reel.

Personal Papers Not on Microfilm, as of 1985

• Paul Vanderbilt Papers, 1900-1968. FSA-OWI materials, largely in box 3, include copies of Stryker's memoranda, reports, and gossip sheets and miscellaneous materials relating to Vanderbilt's classification scheme for FSA-OWI materials and operations of the LC Photographic Section. Total collection contains approximately 12,000 items in 12 boxes. Donated by Paul Vanderbilt in 1981.

Published Descriptions

• Archives of American Art. A Checklist of the Collection. Washington: Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1977. ca. 150 pp. Z6616 .A2A68 1977
• Archives of American Art. The Card Catalog of the Oral History Collections of the Archives of American Art. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 1984. 343 pp. N6536.A73 1984
• McCoy, Garnett. Archives of American Art: A Directory of Resources. New York: Bowker, 1972. 163 pp. Z66ll.A7M3

B. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Record Group 96, Farmers Home Administration. The Farmers Home Administration, created as the successor to the FSA by the Farmers Home Administration Act of August 14, 1946, absorbed the records of its parent agency. No distinct group of textual records of the Historical Section survives among the records of the Information Division, the division that monitored the FSA photo project, publications, radio work, and films. The office files apparently were transferred intact to the OWI in 1942, and became Library of Congress property in 1944. Nevertheless, copies of Historical Section reports and memoranda that passed through the RA-FSA central office are retained in the administrator's correspondence. This is arranged in two series: Washington Office, 1935-1938 (materials left in Washington when part of the agency moved to Cincinnati in April 1942) and Cincinnati Office, 1935-1942 (materials that were transferred to Cincinnati). Both series use a numeric classification scheme. Material relating to the FSA photo project is concentrated in the 160s (public relations), particularly under 167 (photography) and 168 (exhibits).* Some records were microfilmed for the Archives of American Art in 1964. It is possible that textual records documenting assignments of FSA-OWI photographers lent to other government agencies, such as the Public Health Service, might be located in the record groups of these agencies.

The preliminary inventory of Office of War Information Record Group 208 lists no distinct body of textual records from the OWI, Overseas Picture Division, Washington Section, the office that amalgamated the FSA photo project with other OWI photographic units.

Published Descriptions

• Brown, Stanley W., and Virgil E. Baugh. Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Farmers Home Administration (Record Group 96). Washington: National Archives, 1959. 62 pp. CD3026.A32 No. 118
• Helton, H. Stephen. Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Office of War Information (Record Group 208). Washington: National Archives, 1953. 149 pp. CD3026.A32 No. 56

C. University of Louisville, Photographic Archives

Roy E. Stryker Papers, 1924-1972. Stryker presented his personal papers in installments to the University of Louisville between 1964 and 1971. The papers are rich in FSA-OWI materials and include gossip sheets, correspondence with field photographers, shooting scripts, outlines, memoranda, photographs, and related pamphlets, articles, and books published during and after the project. By and large, these seem to be the "unofficial" FSA-OWI records that Stryker kept at his home; the papers contain copies of some FSA-OWI materials that have not been located in other archives. Many items were microfilmed by the Archives of American Art in 1964-65 before they were given to the university, and organized and indexed by archivist David Horvath. All manuscripts, photographs, and selected publications are available in a 15-reel microfilm set with a published guide. The papers document Stryker's early years at Columbia as well as his post-FSA projects. The total collection measures approximately 30 linear feet.

Published Descriptions

• Horvath, David G. Roy Stryker Papers, 1912- 1972: A Guide to the Microfilm Edition. Sanford, N.C.: Microfilming Corporation of America, 1982. 142 pp. Z7136.D63467 1982.