The Farm Security Administration

The Farm Security Administration (FSA) was created in the Department of Agriculture in 1937. The FSA and its predecessor, the Resettlement Administration (RA), were New Deal programs designed to assist poor farmers during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Roy Emerson Stryker was the head of a special photographic section in the RA and FSA from 1935-1942.

During its eight-year existence, the section created the 77,000 black-and-white documentary still photographs (also at the Library of Congress) for which it is world-famous. Beginning in 1939, it also created 644 color documentary still photographs. The section's documentary project continued for one year after the unit moved to the Office of War Information in 1942.

The color photographs from the OWI period are also available in electronic form.

FSA/OWI Photos