Dry and parched earth in the Bad Lands of South Dakota–The Bitter Years #10

Rothstein, Arthur, photographer. Dry and parched earth in the badlands of South Dakota. May, 1936.

The Bitter Years, Wall 2 (Drought and Erosion)
Dry and parched earth in the Bad Lands of South Dakota.
May 1936
Arthur Rothstein 4380D


The Bitter Years, in 1962, was Edward Steichen’s last exhibition as Director of the Department of Photography at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The images in the exhibition were personally selected by Steichen from 270,000 photos taken for the Farm Security Administration by a team of photographers employed between 1935 and 1941 to document (primarily) rural America during the Great Depression.

Image Information:

  • Rothstein, Arthur, photographer. Dry and parched earth in the badlands of South Dakota. May, 1936. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1998019157/PP/. (Accessed September 19, 2016.)
  • Call Number: LC-USF34- 004380-D [P&P]
  • Part of: Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information Photograph Collection
america, american history, great depression, photography, south dakota, the bitter years, vintage images

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Hilary Sep 24, 2016 Link

    Hi Mike – desperate times … at the moment this reminds me of Aleppo – appalling in this century … it’s good that the times of the Depression were recorded for us to remember. Thanks – Hilary
    Hilary recently posted…Blessing of the Animals …My Profile

    • Mike Sep 24, 2016 Link

      It was desperate times for many. Fortunately, in the United States, things were not as bad anywhere as what is happening in Aleppo. On the other hand, elsewhere in the world, the ambitions of the German, Italian, and Japanese leaders were taking the world into a very dark place.
      Mike recently posted…Barbara Allen, a traditional ballad.My Profile

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