Pea-pickers

This mass deportation, known as the Mexican Repatriation, took place from 1929 to 1939 and was empowered by panic of an alarmingly high unemployment rate sweeping over the United States at this time.

This triggered the migration of men, women, and children seeking work, food, and shelter making their way to California, hoping to find opportunity and a better life.

Prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices led to massive dust storms that rendered vast areas of farmland unusable.

This environmental catastrophe forced tens of thousands of families, particularly from Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and Arkansas, to migrate in search of better living conditions and employment opportunities.

These displaced individuals, often referred to as "Okies," a term derived from the large number of migrants from Oklahoma, became part of a larger group of itinerant agricultural workers.

Migrants often found themselves living in squalid conditions in makeshift camps and shantytowns without adequate sanitation, clean water, or medical care.

Dorothea Lange, a photographer for the Farm Security Administration (FSA), played a crucial role in documenting the lives of Dust Bowl migrants.

According to sources from the Getty Museum, the Kennedy Center, and History.com, the photograph had a profound effect on public awareness and policy, leading to increased aid and support for struggling families .

Programs under the New Deal, such as the establishment of the Resettlement Administration (which later became the FSA), aimed to provide more stable housing, food, and healthcare to migrant families.

Dorothea Lange 's Migrant Mother depicts Florence Owens Thompson , a mother of seven children and migrant worker, in March 1936. Lange's photograph was instrumental in raising awareness about the conditions faced by migrant workers. [ 1 ]