Sharecropper Dalton McLeod's children. Fuquay Springs, Wake County, NC, 1935 Sept.
These three McLeod brothers, Edward, Dalton and David, are entertaining themselves on the porch of their new home
Sharecropper Dalton McLeod's children. Fuquay Springs, Wake County, NC, 1935 Sept.
Photographer: Arthur Rothstein, (1915-1985)
Source: LOC - Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives.
Arthur Rothstein had just turned 20 when he was given his first photographic assignment for the US Resettlement Administration in August 1935.
Over 40 days he traveled south from Washington DC as far as Georgia, and as far west as Arkansas.
His job was to coordinate with regional information officers to document the wretched condition of southern sharecroppers and tenant farmers, thousands of whom had been displaced by depressed prices and increasing mechanization.
Rothstein visited dozens of projects across the south where his New Deal agency was providing assistance.
While in North Carolina, he visited the McLeod family, sharecropper clients of the RA program at Fuquay Springs. These three McLeod brothers, Edward, Dalton and David, are entertaining themselves on the porch of their new home.
He also documented community facilities that were improved with RA assistance: a sorghum mill, a blacksmith shop, and a new tobacco barn.