FSA Photos - Breathitt County - 1940
Farm Security Adminstration Photos
Note from Charles Hayes: The Farm Security Adminstration was one of the many programs began during the Great Depression to provide jobs. One branch of the FSA provided for a team of federally-hired photographers who traveled throughout the USA taking photos of lifestyles. Between 1935 and 1943 these photographers took almost 150,000 photos. Luckily many passed through our state and even into Breathitt County. In September of 1940 one of the photographers, Marion Post Wolcott, came into our region of Kentucky. She took hundreds of photos in Wolfe and Breathitt County. While in Breathitt County she was taken throughout our county by Mrs. Marie R. Turner, the county superintendent, for a period of about two weeks. The samples below show that she photographed all kinds of daily life in our county. All of her FSA photos and negatives are stored in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Beautiful enlargements and copies may be ordered from the Library for a fee. About ten years ago our local Breathitt County Museum (on Broadway) ordered about 100 of Miss Wolcott's photos and they are on display along the walls of the Museum today. Through the years I have obtained copies here and there. Some of them are shown below. (All were taken in September of 1940, fifty-eight years ago!) The one weak point of the collection is that not much information, such as names and locations, is given. Thus, we will just have to use our best judgement on some scenes.
3. Farmers Around The Court House
4. Going Home