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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

Church at Pie Town, New Mexico. This building was a cooperative community enterprise

Son of Jim Norris, homesteader, tying corn into bundles, Pie Town, New Mexico

Jack Whinery and Jim Norris, homesteaders, looking at roots of stalk of corn, Pie Town, New Mexico

Pinto beans, main crop at Pie Town, New Mexico

Jim Norris, homesteader, Pie Town, New Mexico

Main Street, Pie Town, New Mexico

Team pulling a car out of the mud; the roads near Pie Town, New Mexico are not improved

Dugout house of Faro Caudill, homesteader with Mt. Allegro in the background, Pie Town, New Mexico

Llano de San Juan, New Mexico, Catholic Church

Mr. Leatherman, homesteader, coming out of his dugout home, Pie Town, New Mexico

Jack Whinery, homesteader, repairing fence which he built with slabs, Pie Town, New Mexico

A land and utility municipal housing project, Ponce, Puerto Rico

Small farms in the southwest, Puerto Rico

Christiansted, Saint Croix, Virgin Islands

Children in a company housing settlement, Puerto Rico

Federal housing project on the outskirts of the town of Yauco, Puerto Rico. About an acre of land for gardens is provided with each house

A land and utility municipal housing project, Ponce, Puerto Rico

Apartment houses near the cathedral in old part of the city, San Juan

Street in San Juan, Puerto Rico

A land and utility municipal housing project, Ponce, Puerto Rico

A land and utility municipal housing project, Ponce, Puerto Rico

A town in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico, Dec. 1941, San Juan

The Virgin Islands, general view of the sea coast in the vicinity of Christiansted, Saint Croix