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Spectacular photos of Life in the United States during the World War II by Marion Post Wolcott

Marion Post Wolcott was a talented American photographer. She was born in Montclair, New Jersey, educated at the New School for Social Research, New York University, and the University of Vienna. After graduating in 1932, she attended workshops with Ralph Steiner in New York to pursue a career in photography. By 1936, she was a freelance photographer for magazines including Life, Fortune, and others. In 1937, she joined the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin staff as a photographer

During the Great Depression, Marion Post Wolcott worked as a photographer for the Farm Security Administration, documenting deprivation and poverty. Post’s photographs for the FSA often explore the political aspects of poverty and deprivation. During Franklin Roosevelt’s administration, Post met Leon Oliver Wolcott, deputy director of war relations for the United States Department of Agriculture. They married, and Marion Post Wolcott continued her work for the FSA until she resigned in February 1942. While raising a family, traveling, and living overseas, Wolcott struggled to fit photography into her schedule.

You see, I guess I believed back then, or was supposed to believe, that my place was in the home, that I couldn’t do both, you know, be a photographer, a would-be artist, and try to raise children. It just wasn’t as easy in those days.

Mario told biographer Paul Hendrickson, who questioned the brevity of her career.

They settled outside Washington, D.C. Over the next ten years, they owned three different farms and had two more children, Linda and Mike. Wolcott sometimes felt overwhelmed with the chaos of the household and her responsibilities as a parent. The 1970s saw a renewed interest among scholars in Post Wolcott’s images, prompting her own interest in photography. She mounted her first solo exhibition in California in 1978, and her photographs were collected by the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 1980s. Wolcott’s work is archived at the Library of Congress and at the University of Arizona’s Center for Creative Photography. Wolcott died of lung cancer on November 24, 1999.

Marion Post Wolcott took these amazing historical photos during WWII as part of her documentation of everyday American life.

#1 Group of Men Waging Bets on Horse Race at Betting Windows, Hialeah Park, Miami, Florida, 1939

#2 Auctioneers, buyers and farmers at a tobacco auction sale in Durham, North Carolina, November 1939

#3 A group of men standing in front of a railway station in Newport, Tennessee, November 1939

#4 A family stripping, tying and grading tobacco in their home in Granville County, North Carolina, November 1939

#5 Man Ascending Stairs to “Colored” Entrance of Crescent Theater, Belzoni, Mississippi, November 1939

#6 Rex Billiard Hall for Colored, Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee, October 1939

#7 Tenant Farmers on Porch of Store and Post Office, Mileston, Mississippi, October 1939

#8 Tenant Farmer and Family on Porch, Marcella Plantation, Mileston, Mississippi, October 1939

#9 Two Mexican Laborers, contracted by Planters, Emptying Bags of Cotton on Plantation, Perthshire, Mississippi, October 1939

#10 Copper Miners on Strike, Ducktown, Tennessee, September 1939

#11 Farmer driving horse-drawn Wagon, Danville, Virginia, September 1939

#12 Sharecropper Picking Cotton in Field, near Chapel Hill, North Carolina, September 1939

#13 Saturday Afternoon Street Scene, Yanceyville, North Carolina, September 1939

#14 View of a copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, located in Copperhill, Tennessee, September 1939.

#15 Nurse weighing Baby at Medical Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, August 1939

#16 A group of African American men and women, enjoying themselves at a picnic or garden party; with a woman, wearing a large hat and a polka-dotted dress at party, 1939

#17 Rear View of Pea Pickers on Dirt Road, Belle Glade, Florida, 1939

#19 Gas Station Attendant Filling Car with Gasoline, Atlanta, Georgia, 1939

#20 Mechanic repairing Automobile Motor, Atlanta, Georgia, 1939

#21 Mechanics repairing Tractor, Atlanta, Georgia, 1939

#22 Students learning Office and Secretarial work by helping Principal Robert Pierce, Gee’s Bend, Alabama, 1939

#23 Rolling Store Selling Goods in Rural Community, near Montezuma, Georgia, 1939

#24 Domestic Help Boarding Streetcar, Atlanta, Georgia, 1939

#25 Domestic Help Boarding Streetcar, Atlanta, Georgia, 1939

#26 Man Bringing Home Meal from Cooperative Grist Mill on Horse-Drawn Cart, Gees Bend, Alabama, 1939

#27 May 1939: A group of young children being made up to take part in a song and dance routine during May Day-Health Day festivities at Ashwood Plantations, 1939

#29 Street Scene, Main Street, Greensboro, Georgia, 1939

#30 First Grade Children and Teacher, Goodman School, Coffee County, Alabama, 1939

#31 Young Boy getting Water from Old Well, Coffee County, Alabama, 1939

#33 A farmer ploughing with oxen on his land in Coffee County, Alabama, 1939

#34 Helms Family Dinner, Coffee County, Alabama, 1939

#35 Woman making Dress on Sewing Machine, Coffee County, Alabama, 1939

#36 Spectators at Horse Race, Hialeah Park, Miami, Florida, 1939

#37 Group of Men Hanging out Near Railroad Tracks in Center of Town, Fitzgerald, Georgia, 1939

#38 Man Sunbathing on Beach, Miami Beach, Florida, 1939

#39 Three Children Hoeing Field, Flint River Farms, Georgia, 1939

#40 Young Strawberry Picker in Field, near Lakeland, Florida, 1939

#41 Woman Shopping at Grocery Store, Lakeland, Florida, 1939

#42 Traveling Preacher’s Cart, Belle Glade Florida, 1939

#43 Migrant Day Laborer mixing Spray to kill White Flies and nourish Bean Plants, near Belle Glade, Florida, 1939

#44 Migrant Packinghouse Workers, Belle Glade, Florida, 1939

#45 Haircutting in front of General Store and Post Office on Marcella Plantation, Mississippi, 1939

#46 A group of men and women standing outside a cinema waiting to be allowed in, with signs advertising “Buck Jones, Law of Tombstone, ” and “Gene Autry”; located on Beale Street in Memphis, 1939

#47 Woman Leaving Employment Agency, Miami, Florida, 1939

#48 Portrait of Young Couple, Migrant Laborers at Packinghouse, Canal Point, Florida, 1939

#49 Family of Migrant Worker Living in Tent, near Canal Point Packinghouse, Florida, 1939

#50 Men on the sidewalk in front of a secondhand clothing store on Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee, 1939.

#51 Farmers bring their cans of milk to the crossroads early every morning where it is picked up by the Bellows Falls Co-op Creamery truck and is taken to Brookside Milk Company in town, Woodstock, Vermont, 1939.

#52 Migrant labourer’s family, packing house workers. Canal Point, Florida, 1940

#53 Mosquito Crossing near Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia, 1939

#54 Teenage Girl Gathering Sap from Sugar Maple Trees for Making Maple Syrup, North Bridgewater, Vermont, April 1940

#55 Young Girl Eating Cotton Candy, Cotton Carnival, Memphis, Tennessee, May 1940

#56 Nurse Examining Infant with Mother and Child Receiving Prenatal and Postnatal Care, Florida, June 1940

#57 Street Scene with Religious Sign, Charleston, South Carolina, USA, 1939

#58 Coal Miner’s Child breaking up large pieces of Coal to take home, Scotts Run, West Virginia, 1939

#59 Children on Seesaw at Playground, Greenbelt, Maryland, 1939

#60 Barber Cutting Man’s Hair, Osage, West Virginia, September 1939

#61 Two Coal Miners Buying Groceries in Company Store, Pursglove, West Virginia, 1939

#62 Coal Miner’s Children in Bedroom, Pursglove, West Virginia, 1939

#63 Family of Man Dying of Tuberculosis Gathering on Front Porch of Home, Marine, West Virginia, 1939

#64 Coal Miner Waiting for Ride Home after Work, Capels, West Virginia, 1939

#65 Farmer Going to Town Along Highway near Elkins, West Virginia, 1939

#66 Coal Miners on Lunch Break, Maidsville, West Virginia, 1939

#67 Train Pulling Through Center of Town, Osage, West Virginia, 1939

#68 Coal Miner’s Wife Carrying Water Home from the Hill, Bertha Hill, West Virginia, 1939

#69 Coal Mine Employees Waiting to be Paid, Osage, West Virginia, 1939

#70 Coal Miner’s Shack, Pursglove, West Virginia, 1939

#71 Coal Miner’s Children on Porch, Jere, West Virginia, 1939

#72 Construction Workers Building New Bridge, Tygart Valley Homesteads, West Virginia, 1939

#73 Large Group of Miners Waiting to be Paid, Coal Mining Town, Omar, West Virginia, 1939

#74 Coal Miner Waiting to go Home, Caples, West Virginia, 1939

#75 Four Miners’ children on way Home from School, Omar, West Virginia, 1939

#76 A coal miner, waiting for a lift home, in Caples, West Virginia, 1939

#77 The tubercular wife of an unemployed coal miner in their home, an old company store, in Marine, West Virginia, 1938

#78 Mother with Child Shopping in Co-Op Store, Greenbelt, Maryland, 1939

#79 A small group of African American men, women, and children, standing together, with their backs to the camera, watching a fire in the left background, Florida, 1939

#81 A cross roads store, bar, “juke joint,” and gas station in the cotton plantation area, Melrose, Louisiana., 1940

#82 Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill, Tennessee, 1940

#83 Day laborers picking cotton near Clarksdale, Mississippi, 1940

#84 Farmers and townspeople in center of town on Court day, Campton, Kentucky, 1940

#85 Living quarters and “juke joint” for migratory workers, a slack season; Belle Glade, Florida, 1939

#87 A store with live fish for sale, vicinity of Natchitoches, Louisiana, 1940

#88 Living quarters, store, and juke joint, for migratory laborers near Canal Point, Florida, 1941

#89 Cowboy Removing Horseshoe from Horse in Ranch Corral, Birney, Montana, 1941

#90 Merritt Parkway to New Haven, Connecticut, July 1941

#91 State Capitol Building and Street Scene, Hartford, Connecticut, July 1941

#93 An Italian day laborer with a bucket of beans at Seabrook Farms, New Jersey, July 1941

#94 Group of People from Local Ranch watching Crow Fair, Crow Agency, Montana, July 1941

#95 Street Scene, Main Street, Sheridan, Wyoming, July 1941

#96 Two Farmers Harvesting Wheat with Combine, near Culbertson, Montana, August 1941

#97 Street Scene, Main Street, Sheridan, Wyoming, July 1941

#98 Truck Being Loaded with Bushels of String Beans by Two Day Laborers, New Jersey, July 1941

#99 Group of Day Laborers on Truck being brought to Farm to Pick String Bean, Bridgeton, New Jersey, July 1941

#100 Group Portrait, Juke Joint and Bar, near Belle Glade, Florida, February 1941

#101 Two Female Workers preparing Hot Lunch for Agricultural Workers’ Children in Kitchen of Day Nursery, Okeechobee Migratory Labor Camp, Belle Glade, Florida, February 1941

#102 Children of Agricultural Workers in Day Nursery eating Lunch, Okeechobee Migratory Labor Camp, Belle Glade, Florida, February 1941

#103 Rest Hour in Day Nursery, Okeechobee Migratory Labor Camp, Belle Glade, Florida, February 1941

#104 Boy on Playground Slide, Sarasota Trailer Park, Sarasota, Florida, January 1941

#105 Guests at Sarasota Trailer Park playing Chinese Checkers, Sarasota, Florida, January 1941

#106 Lido Beach Casino, Sarasota, Florida, January 1941

#107 Guests of Sarasota Trailer Park Picnicking at Beach, Sarasota, Florida, January 1941

#108 Woman Hanging Clothes on Clothesline, Sarasota Trailer Park, Sarasota, Florida, January 1941

#109 Women in Dresses Collecting Seashells on Beach, Rear View, Sarasota, Florida, January 1941

#110 Women Playing Cards on Porch of Trailer Home, Sarasota, Florida, January 1941

#111 Children of migratory laborers stand outside their dilapidated houses, which were condemned by the Board of Health, but still used as living spaces, Belle Glade, Florida, 1941.

#112 Men playing shuffleboard in Sarasota, Florida, January 1941

#113 Family Enjoying Sun and Beach, Sarasota, Florida, January 1941

#114 Migratory Workers waiting to Receive Supplies of Surplus Commodities, Belle Glade, Florida, January 1941

#115 Young Boy Playing on Beach, Sarasota, Florida, January 1941

#116 Construction Worker sitting on Car before leaving for Evening Shift, Camp Livingston, Alexandria, Louisiana, December 1940

#117 Woman working in New Cafe opposite entrance to Camp Livingston U.S. Military Base, Alexandria, Louisiana, December 1940

#118 Construction Workers from Camp Livingston U.S. Military Base eating and hanging around new Cafe, Alexandria, Louisiana, December 1940

#119 Workers standing outside of a housing facility where the sign reads ‘Beds 50 cents up stairs’, December 1940

#120 One-room Schoolhouse showing Overcrowded Conditions and need for Repairs and Equipment, Breathitt County, Kentucky, November 1940

#121 Doctor examining Farmer’s Family on Front Porch, Caswell County, North Carolina, October 1940

#122 Dairy Farmer, a Farm Security Administration (FSA) Tenant Purchase Borrower, bottling Milk at Pasteurizing Plant, Caswell County, North Carolina, October 1940

#123 Mountain Woman going to Market, Jackson, Kentucky, September 1940

#124 One-room School showing overcrowded conditions, Breathitt County, Kentucky, September 1940

#125 Mountain Children Playing Marbles after School, Breathitt County, Kentucky, September 1940

#126 Students in Overcrowded Rural School, Morehead, Kentucky, August 1940

#127 Sulky or Harness Races, Shelby County Fair, Shelbyville, Kentucky, August 1940

#128 A small wooden shack, with a shingled roof, brick chimney stack, and a bell set on top of a tall pole at right, Kentucky, 1940

#129 Street Vendor Selling Household Remedies, Port Gibson, Mississippi, August 1940

#130 Fishing on Ohio River, Louisville, Kentucky, July 1940

#132 Townspeople Sitting on Street Corner on Saturday Afternoon, Bardstown, Kentucky, July 1940

#133 Tourist cabins, in the style of native Indian tepees, along the highway near Bardstown, Kentucky, 1940

#134 J.D. Anglin, cultivating his Corn with a pair of Mares, Transylvania Resettlement Project, Transylvania, Louisiana, 1940

#135 Two Young Men Hitchhiking, near Natchitoches, Louisiana, June 1940

#136 Skier, near Franconia, New Hampshire, March 1940

#137 People on a farm in North Bridgewater, Vermont, gathering sap from sugar trees to make maple syrup, 1940

#138 Hired help resting after day’s work on Upwey horse farm, South Woodstock, Vermont, March 1940

#139 Group of People on Ski Lift, Cranmore Mountain, North Conway, New Hampshire, March 1940 .

#140 Ski Lift, Cranmore Mountain, North Conway, New Hampshire, March 1940

#141 Mailman Delivering Mail after Heavy Snowfall, Rear View, Woodstock, Vermont, March 1940

#142 Farmer Bringing Cans of Milk to Crossroads Early in Morning Vermont, March 1940

#143 Skis on Ski Rack attached to Car Trunk, Woodstock, Vermont, March 1940

#144 A hired man hauling logs with a sled and a team near Waterbury, Vermont, March 1940

#145 People at a town meeting in Woodstock, Vermont, voting on whether to ban intoxicating liquor from the town, March 1940

#147 Farm Workers Being Transported by Truck, Mississippi, 1940

#148 A cross roads store, bar, juke joint, and gas station in the cotton plantation area, Melrose, Louisiana, 1940.

#149 A family seated on the porch of a house at the Bayou Bourbeau Plantation, Louisiana, 1940

#150 Second Hand Clothing Store, Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee, November 1939

#151 Cotton Warehouse, Memphis, Tennessee, November 1939

#152 Chinese Grocery Store, Leland, Mississippi, November 1939

#153 Cars Parked outside Stadium during Duke University-North Carolina Football Game, Durham, North Carolina, November 1939

#154 Woman Carrying Laundry Home Along Highway, Near Durham, North Carolina, November 1939

#155 Farmers Waiting for Tobacco to be Sold at Auction in Warehouse, Durham, North Carolina, November 1939

#156 Woman Standing Near No Drinking Sign Posted at Duke University-North Carolina Football Game, 1939

#157 Farmers at Tobacco Auction, Durham, North Carolina, November 1939

#158 Day labourers picking cotton near Clarksdale, Mississippi, 1939

#159 Patrons dancing at a juke joint near Clarksdale, Mississippi, November 1939.

#160 The Rex Theatre in Leland, Mississippi, which is segregated under the Jim Crow laws, November 1939

#161 Members of the Wilkins family at home near Stem, North Carolina, enjoying a family meal, November 1939

#162 Farmers listening to a patent medicine salesman during a tobacco auction in Durham, North Carolina, November 1939

#163 Wolcott Arms Apartment; There’s been a lot of neck craning a E. 14th Ave, 1940

#164 Man standing in front of Hotel Bar, Big Piney, Wyoming, September 1941

#165 C.L. Saxton, Driller, J.G. Betz, Cathead Man and L.C. Westerman, eating Lunch around Oil Well, Continental Oil Company, Moundridge, Kansas, September 1941

#166 Post Office in Blizzard, Aspen, Colorado, September 1941

#167 A grocery store on the main street of Ranchester in the Big Horn Mountains area of Wyoming, September 1941

#168 Milk Truck Leaving Two Rivers Non-Stock Cooperative Association, Nebraska, September1941

#169 Man Servicing Old Oil Well, near Wichita, Kansas, September 1941

#170 Cattle in Pens at Union Stockyards before Auction Sale, Omaha, Nebraska, September 1941

#171 Railroad Tracks with Sawatch Mountains in Background, near Buena Vista, Colorado, September 1941

#172 Teen Boy with Hereford Steer, Mitchell, Nebraska, September 1941

#173 Farmer with Eggs Produced by Poultry Enterprise of Two Rivers Non-Stock Cooperative Association, Nebraska, September 1941

#174 Abandoned Stores in Old Mining Town, Leadville, Colorado, September 1941

#175 Ranch House after early Fall Blizzard, near Aspen, Colorado, September 1941

#176 Ranch House after early Fall Blizzard, near Aspen, Colorado, September 1941

#177 Man pumping Gas at Co-Op Gas Station, Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 1941

#179 Highway and wheat fields near Minot, North Dakota, August 1941

#180 Bridges over Monongahela River with Cityscape in Background, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 1941

#182 Smithfield Street Bridge and Monongahela River with Cityscape in Background, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 1941

#183 Patrons and Bartender at the Bar on Saturday Night, Birney, Montana, August 1941

#184 Young Adult Woman and Two Cowboys at Saturday Night Dance, Birney, Montana, August 1941

#185 Point Bridge and Cityscape, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 1941

#186 Stockmen on Street Corner, Sheridan, Wyoming, August 1941

#187 Farmers and Consumers Cooperative Company, Sheridan, Wyoming, August 1941

#188 Grain Elevators, Homestead, Montana, August 1941

#189 Cityscape, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 1941

#190 Harvesting wheat with Combine, near Culbertson, Montana, August 1941

#192 Construction Workers from Camp Livingston U.S. Military Base eating and hanging around new Cafe, Alexandria, Louisiana, 1940

#193 Mountain Woman and Child going Home with Groceries and Supplies, Breathitt County, Kentucky, November 1940

#194 Mountain Woman going to Market, Jackson, Kentucky, September 1940

#195 Free haircut on Saturday morning in W.M. Scott’s general store. Farrington, Chatham County, North Carolina, September 1940

#196 An old man sitting in front of the courthouse in Versailles, Kentucky, September 1940

#197 Women in Dresses Collecting Seashells on Beach, Rear View, Sarasota, Florida, January 1941

#198 Guests at Sarasota Trailer Park playing Chinese Checkers, Sarasota, Florida, January 1941

#199 Guests of Sarasota Trailer Park Picnicking at Beach, Sarasota, January 1941

#200 Mother listening to son read. Sarasota trailer park, Sarasota, Florida, January, 1941

#201 Guests at Sarasota Trailer Park going for a Swim, Sarasota, Florida, January 1941

#202 Spanish Muskrat Trapper in Doorway of his Marsh Camp, Delacroix Island, Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana, January 1941

#203 Row of Homes Condemned by Board of Health that are Still Occupied by African-American Migratory Workers, Belle Glade, Florida, January 1941

#204 Children of Agricultural Workers in Day Nursery eating Lunch, Okeechobee Migratory Labor Camp, Belle Glade, Florida, February 1941

#205 Two Female Workers preparing Hot Lunch for Agricultural Workers’ Children in Kitchen of Day Nursery, Okeechobee Migratory Labor Camp, Belle Glade, Florida, February 1941

#206 Two men planting corn in a field in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, 1941

#207 Two Cajun Boys Fishing in Bayou, Schriever, Terrabonne Parish, Louisiana, June 1940

#208 Truck Being Loaded with Bushels of String Beans picked by Day Laborers, New Jersey, July 1941.

#209 Man Building Home Screen Door, Ridge, Maryland, July 1941.

#210 Native Americans Watching Crow Fair, Crow Agency, Montana, July 1941.

#211 Merritt Parkway to New Haven, Fairfield, Connecticut, 1941

#212 Traveling Preacher’s Cart, Belle Glade Florida, 1939

#213 Gas and Oil Tanks, Delta and Pine Land Company, Scott, Mississippi, 1939

#214 Domestic Worker with Young Child in Kitchen, Atlanta, Georgia, 1939.

#217 Young Boy Plowing School Garden, Gees Bend, Alabama, 1939

#218 Young Children Day Laborers Picking Cotton, near Clarksdale, Mississippi, 1939

#219 Woman Carrying Laundry Home Along Highway, Near Durham, North Carolina, November 1939

#220 Three cotton picking machines on the Hobson plantation near Clarkesdale, Mississippi, 1939

#221 Mailman Delivering Mail after Heavy Snowfall, Woodstock, Vermont, March 1940

#222 A small wooden shack, with a shingled roof, brick chimney stack, and a bell set on top of a tall pole at right, Kentucky, 1940

#223 Woman Carrying Sack of Laundry on her Head, Natchez, Mississippi, August 1940

#224 Two People Playing Croquet at American Legion Fish Fry, Oldham County, near Louisville, Kentucky, August 1940

#226 Farm Family Eating Ice Cream along Cane River on Fourth of July, near Natchitoches, Louisiana, July 1940

#227 Woman giving her two Children Water while Hoeing Cotton, 1940

#228 Two Cajun Children on Terrebonne Project, Schriever, Louisiana, June 1940

#229 Shirtless Farmer Hoeing Cotton, Allen Plantation Cooperative Association, near Natchitoches, Louisiana, June 1940

#230 Children Playing Marbles, Okeechobee Migratory Labor Camp, Belle Glade, Florida, June 1940

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Husband + Father + librarian + Poet + Traveler + Proud Buddhist. I love you with the breath, the smiles and the tears of all my life.

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