Depression Era Photographs

The photograph which was taken by Dorothea Lange shows a house made by a family from Arkansas that migrated near Bakersfield, California. The home looks to be in very poor condition as it appears to be constructed by many different materials. The title states that these people from Arkansas are “squatters” which are people who without consent of the law live on land that is unoccupied. We notice that the house suggest this family is in deep poverty having lost their business or home in Arkansas and migrating to California in hope for work. What this photo reveals about the depression is that people who migrated could not find or afford housing and had to make their own homes on unused land. The image captures the poor condition in which people lived in. This image would be helpful to those trying to promote the New Deal as they would have used this image to highlight the poor conditions many Americans faced and would have claimed with the New Deal they can make things better. People in favor of the New Deal probably would have used this photo to say with the New Deal they can build quality housing for many migrants living instead of living in poorly constructed shacks. Another thing those in favor of the New Deal could have argued is that if this family migrated to do farm work, they could have argued that they would provide farm work for the adults in this family to support their family. Lastly, one of the main aspects that those in favor of the New Deal could have used from this photo is that they could have claimed that if no action was taken then everyone in the country could end up living like squatters. So, they would be arguing that the New Deal is action that must take place by the government to get these people out of poverty.