In July 1941, Photographer Russell Lee visited the small town of Vale in Eastern Oregon. He was working for the Farm Security Administration to document the everyday life of Rural Americans coping with the Great Depression. Russell photographed the parade, rides, carnivals, landmarks, and life in Vale.
The people of the town were celebrating the 165th anniversary of the Independence Day of the United States. During that time the population of Vale was over 1,100. The fashions and style in Lee’s photographs are suggestive of a monoculture, a small town where things and people are in their right place and fit there.
Take a look at the photographs below and vote your favorites. And don’t forget to check, People of Pie Town in the 1940s by Russell Lee.
