Dorothea Lange's Yakima Valley Photographs

The Farm Security Administration commissioned Dorothea Lange to document the conditions of migrant farm workers and FSA programs and clients in Washington's Yakima Valley in 1939. Lange had previously photographed migrant workers in California and rural poverty in Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas. Here are some of Lange's Yakima photographs, culled from the Library of Congress American Memory photograph archives. Click the image to enlarge and read her full captions. Click here to see the full gallery of her Yakima pictures.

Read our Dorothea Lange Essay Series

Social Documentary photography Dorothea Lange visited Washington's Yakima Valley in 1939 to chronicle rural farm life and migrant families during the Depression. • Part 1: Dorothea Lange's Social Vision: Photography and the Great Depression, by Emily Yoshiwara • Part 2: Dorothea Lange in the Yakima Valley: Rural Poverty and Photography, by Stephanie Whitney

Dorothea Lange's 1939 Yakima Valley photographs. Click to see full collection and enlarge images.