The Farm Security Administration (FSA), played a big part in the creation of the Okie legend. Art Historian Cara Finnegan says that “Many in the early years of the twentieth century did not believe that rural poverty existed.” 635 more words
Tags » Okies
Rothstein, Arthur, photographer. Cotton picker. Kaufman County, Texas. Kaufman County Texas, 1936. July-Aug. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa1998019646/PP/. (Accessed October 29, 2017.)
Lange, Dorothea, photographer. Migrant agricultural worker’s family. Seven hungry children. Mother aged thirty-two. Father is native Californian. Nipomo, California. California Nipomo San Luis Obispo County, 1936. Feb. or Mar. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa1998021556/PP/. (Accessed November 05, 2017.)
John Collier, Jr, photographer. Bridgeton, New Jersey. FSA Farm Security Administration agricultural workers’ camp. The camp nurse making a call. Bridgeton Cumberland County New Jersey United States, 1942. July. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://lccn.loc.gov/2017823202. (Accessed November 02, 2017.)
Dorothea Lange, photographer. In Farm Security Administration FSA migrant labor camp during pea harvest. Family from Oklahoma with eleven children. Father, eldest daughter and eldest son working. She: “I want to go back to where we can live happy, live decent, and grow what we eat.” He: “I’ve made my mistake and now we can’t go back. I’ve got nothing to farm with.” Brawley, Imperial County, California. Brawley California Imperial County United States, 1939. Feb. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://lccn.loc.gov/2017773450. (Accessed November 02, 2017.)
Exodus: Black Okie Migration
THE MIGRATION numbers for African Americans in Oklahoma are difficult to pin down because although there was a statewide net loss of only 3,349 or 2% of the total population of African Americans in the state between 1930 and 1940, this same period saw huge changes in black residency. 1,456 more words
Russell, photographer. Meeting of some members of the Oklahoma tenant farmers’ union. Muskogee, Oklahoma. Muskogee Muskogee County Oklahoma, 1939. July. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa2000015042/PP/. (Accessed November 02, 2017.)
Russell Lee, photographer. Workers’ Alliance meeting. Muskogee, Oklahoma. Muskogee Muskogee County Oklahoma, 1939. July. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa2000015061/PP/. (Accessed November 02, 2017.)
Russell Lee, photographer. Negroes and whites at Workers’ Alliance meeting listening to Stanley Clark, old-time socialist leader in Oklahoma. Muskogee, Oklahoma. Muskogee Muskogee County Oklahoma, 1939. July. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa2000015069/PP/. (Accessed November 02, 2017.)
Russell Lee, photographer. Meeting of UCAPAWA United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America in Bristow, Oklahoma. Bristow Creek County Oklahoma, 1940. Feb. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa2000016405/PP/. (Accessed November 02, 2017.)
Russell Lee, photographer. Negro mother and child at local chapter meeting of UCAPAWA United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America. Bristow, Oklahoma. Bristow Creek County Oklahoma, 1940. Feb. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa2000016419/PP/. (Accessed November 02, 2017.)
Russell Lee, photographer. Officials of agricultural workers union at Tabor, Oklahoma. Creek County Oklahoma Tabor, 1940. Feb. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa2000016546/PP/. (Accessed November 02, 2017.)
Organizing
Before they migrated out of their home states, many Okie and Arkie sharecropping, and tenant farmers organized to try to negotiate for more humane economic deals with plantation owners. 670 more words
White and Black field workers, picking green beans. These people are working side by side, despite what much of the publicized record led people to believe. Lee, Russell, photographer. Receiving check for string beans picked at scales in field near Muskogee, Oklahoma. Muskogee Oklahoma, 1939. June. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa1997026442/PP/. (Accessed October 29, 2017.)
Despite Jim Crow, black and white field workers’ lives were intertwined, yet their struggle was seen as separate. Russell Lee, photographer. Negro and white agricultural day laborers picking string beans in field near Muskogee, Oklahoma. Muskogee Oklahoma, 1939. June. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa1997026439/PP/. (Accessed October 29, 2017.)
Racism and Relief
Although Oklahoma had its share of middle class black citizens, not all, nor even most African Americans enjoyed a stable economic existence. As was so common across the cotton belt, many Oklahoman farmers were sharecroppers. 1,629 more words
Russell Lee, photographer. Negro tenant farmer and his family on front porch of their home in Wagoner County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma Wagoner County, 1939. June. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa2000014847/PP/. (Accessed October 30, 2017.)
Russell Lee, photographer. Front porch of tenant farmer’s house near Warner, Oklahoma. Oklahoma Warner, 1939. June. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa1997026299/PP/. (Accessed October 30, 2017.)
Sharecropping
Although Oklahoma had its share of middle class black citizens, not all, nor even most African Americans enjoyed a stable economic exitance. As was so common across the cotton belt, many Oklahoman farmers were sharecroppers. 827 more words
Racism and Public Policy in Oklahoma
Due to the deliberate political and social actions of whites, black Oklahomans began to lose ground economically earlier and at higher rates than their white counterparts during the early years of the Depression. 756 more words
African Americans in Oklahoma
Historians of the Dust Bowl and the Depression ignore the effect these events had on African Americans living in the Southwestern United States. Donald Worster in his book… 1,311 more words
