Press contact: Craig D'Ooge (202) 707-9189
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January 18, 2002

FSA Photographs of "Children of the Depression" to Be Discussed at the Library of Congress on February 13

Photo researchers and editors Kathleen Thompson and Hilary Mac Austin will present an illustrated talk about their new book, Children of the Depression (Indiana University Press, 2001), at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 13, in the Mumford Room, sixth floor, James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E. Part of the Center for the Book's "Books & Beyond" author series, the program is free and open to the public. It is co-sponsored with the Library's Prints and Photographs Division.

Children of the Depression features more than 160 black-and-white photographs taken between 1935 and 1943 as part of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) project to document the American experience. The photographs were selected by the editors from the Library of Congress's massive FSA photographic archives, located in the Prints and Photographs Division.

Under the direction of Roy E. Stryker, some of the country's best photographers captured the conditions of the time and the spirit of the people. The book features masterful and poignant images of the children of the era taken by well- known photographers such as Jack Delano, Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, Edwin Rosskam, Arthur Rothstein, Ben Shahn, John Vachon, and Marion Post Wolcott.

Kathleen Thompson and Hilary Mac Austin were co-editors of The Face of Our Past: Images of Black Women from Colonial America to the Present (Indiana University Press, 1999). Kathleen Thompson is the author of more than 100 books for young adults, including Portrait of America, a 53-volume set of books that accompanied the Turner Broadcasting Company's television series of that name. Hilary Mac Austin has been a writer and photo researcher for more than 10 years.

The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress was established in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books, reading, and libraries. For information about its program, publications, and the activities of its affiliated centers in 44 states and the District of Columbia, visit its Web site at www.loc.gov/cfbook.

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PR 02-005
01/18/02
ISSN 0731-3527

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