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Collection: FSA/OWI Color Transparencies

Photographers working for the U.S. government's Farm Security Administration (FSA) and later the Office of War Information (OWI) between 1939 and 1944 made approximately 1,600 color photographs that depict life in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The pictures focus on rural areas and farm labor, as well as aspects of World War II mobilization, including factories, railroads, aviation training, and women working. The original images are color transparencies ranging in size from 35 mm. to 4x5 inches. They complement the better-known black-and-white FSA/OWI photographs, made during the same period

606 photos

Maintenance mechanic in largest coal press in world, Combustion Engineering Co., Chattanooga, Tenn.

Mechanical operator on boiler parts, Combustion Engineering Co., Chattanooga, Tenn.

Maintenance man at the Combustion Engineering Co. working at the largest cold steel hydraulic press in the world, Chattanooga, Tenn. This press can shape steel plates several inches in thickness

Operating a hand drill at North American Aviation, Inc., a woman is working in the control surface department assembling a section of the leading edge for the horizontal stabilizer of a plane, Inglewood, Calif.

Operating a hand drill at the North American Aviation, Inc., a woman is in the control surface department assembling a section of the leading edge for the horizontal stabilizer of a plane

Students at Washington High School at class, training for specific contributions to the war effort, Los Angeles, Calif. Ralph Angar, instructor, explains propeller characteristics to students in the aeronautics class

Learning how to determine latitude by using a sextant is Senta Osoling, student at Polytechnic High School, Los Angeles, Calif. Navigation classes are part of the school's program for training its students for specific contributions to the war effort

Boys trained in the fundamentals of navigation may become technicians in the armed service, Los Angeles, Calif. Thomas Graham, a member of the Victory Corps at Polytechnic High School, is learning to use a sextant to determine longitude and latitude

Boys trained in the fundamentals of navigation may become technicians in the armed service, Los Angeles, Calif. Thomas Graham, a member of the Victory Corps at Polytechnic High School, is learning to use a sextant to determine longitude and latitude

Students at Washington High School at class, training for specific contributions to the war effort, Los Angeles, Calif.

Students at Washington High School at class, training for specific contributions to the war effort, Los Angeles, Calif.

A candid view of one of the women workers touching up the U.S. Army Air Forces insignia on the side of the fuselage of a "Vengeance" dive bomber manufactured at Vultee's Nashville division, Tennessee

Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville, Va.

Rotunda of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville, Va.

Sailor and girl at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Washington, D.C.

Sailor and girl at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Washington, D.C.

Sailor and girl at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Washington, D.C.

Sailor and girl at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Washington, D.C.

Sailor and girl at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Washington, D.C.

Sailor and girl at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Washington, D.C.

Sailor and girl at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Washington, D.C.

Sailor and girl at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Washington, D.C.

Sailor and girl at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Washington, D.C.