The Great Depression in Arkansas – Object #2 – Arkansas Primary Source Sets

Untitled photo, possibly related to: Wife of a sharecropper, Stortz cotton plantation, Pulaski County, Arkansas.

<p>A white woman and her three children, (one standing, one sitting in a rocking chair, and the other in the door), look out towards the distance from the porch of their simple wooden home. Another home and outhouse is visible in the left background, as is a tree and vegetation.</p>

A woman and two of her children stand on the porch, and another child stands behind a screen door, of their simple wooden home on Stortz Cotton Plantation in Pulaski County, Arkansas, August 1935.

Questions:

Describe the people, objects, and activities you see in this photograph.

What do you notice about the woman in this picture?

What could they possibly be looking at in the distance?

It looks to be good weather. What might be a reason they would be standing on the porch of the home instead of working?

What do you think life was like for this family during the Great Depression? Provide evidence to support your answer.

Citations

Rothstein, Arthur, photographer. Untitled photo, possibly related to: Wife of a sharecropper, Stortz cotton plantation, Pulaski County, Arkansas. August 1935. [Photograph]. Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Photograph Collection,Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.