175,000 Pictures in Black and White. 1,600 in Color.
The film of this episode premieres November 5, 2026 on YouTube. The documents, the transcript and the sources are below now.
Between 1939 and 1944 the photographers of the Farm Security Administration and the Office of War Information made about 175,000 pictures of American life in black and white — and roughly 1,600 in color, on early color transparency film.
Transcript
R001 A Fourth of July celebration, St. Helena Island, S.C.
Marion Post Wolcott · July 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Fourth of July, nineteen thirty-nine. The government sent a photographer to the picnic.
R002 A Fourth of July celebration, St. Helena's Island, S.C.
Marion Post Wolcott · July 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Government photographers made a hundred and seventy-five thousand pictures of the Depression in black and white. About sixteen hundred in color. These are the Southern frames — four states, from the sea islands to the war.
The island
R003 A Fourth of July celebration by a group of Negroes, St. Helena Island, S.C.
Marion Post Wolcott · July 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Saint Helena Island, South Carolina, under the live oaks. The photographer is Marion Post Wolcott, carrying color film in the program's first year of using it.
R004 Fourth of July picnic by a group of Negroes, St. Helena Island, S.C.
Marion Post Wolcott · July 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Her caption calls it simply a Fourth of July picnic. The tables were set up around a standing brick chimney.
R005 Fourth of July picnic by Negroes, St. Helena Island, S.C.
Marion Post Wolcott · July 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Dinner was cooked on the spot — iron pots and tubs on the ground at the foot of the pine.
R006 A Fourth of July celebration by a group of Negroes, St. Helena Island, S.C.
Marion Post Wolcott · July 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Between events the crowd drifts along the sand road. Every man is in his hat. Every child is in church clothes.
R007 A Fourth of July celebration, St. Helena Island, S.C.
Marion Post Wolcott · July 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Long tables under the Spanish moss. The caption gives no names.
R008 A Fourth of July celebration, St. Helena Island, S.C.
Marion Post Wolcott · July 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
By afternoon the whole gathering has moved out into the open field.
R009 4th of July celebration, St. Helena Island, S.C.
Marion Post Wolcott · July 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Back at the store: two gas pumps, a cold-drink chest, and the young people in the road under the flag.
R010 Abandoned shacks, vicinity of Beaufort, S.C.
Marion Post Wolcott · June 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
A few weeks earlier, in June, near Beaufort, she had photographed the other side of the ledger. Her caption: abandoned shacks.
R011 A Negro church in a corn field, Manning, S.C.
Marion Post Wolcott · June 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
And inland at Manning, a church with the corn planted right up to its walls. That is the whole caption — a church in a corn field.
The basin
R012 Copper mining section between Ducktown and Copperhill, Tennessee. Fumes from smelting copper for sulfuric acid have destroyed all vegetation and eroded the land
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
September, nineteen thirty-nine. The Copper Basin of Tennessee, between Ducktown and Copperhill. This is what the film saw. No filter, no retouching.
R013 Copper mining section between Ducktown and Copperhill, Tennessee. Fumes from smelting copper for sulfuric acid have destroyed all vegetation and eroded the land
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
A family walks the new highway shoulder. Wolcott's caption explains the hills: fumes from smelting copper for sulfuric acid have destroyed all vegetation and eroded the land.
R014 Copper mining section between Ducktown and Copperhill, Tennessee. Fumes from smelting copper for sulfuric acid have destroyed all vegetation and eroded the land
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
The creeks still run through it. Where the water stands, nothing grows to the edge.
R015 A train bringing copper ore out of the mines, Ducktown, Tenn. Fumes from smelting copper for sulfuric acid have destroyed all vegetation and eroded the land
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
A train brings copper ore out of the mines at Ducktown.
R016 A train bringing copper ore out of the mine, Ducktown, Tenn. Fumes from smelting copper for sulfuric acid have destroyed all vegetation and eroded the land
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
The road between the two towns. The smoke on the horizon is the reason for everything else in the frame.
R017 A train bringing copper ore out of the mine, Ducktown, Tenn. Fumes from smelting copper for sulfuric acid have destroyed all vegetation and eroded the land
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Strings of ore cars wait in the cut.
R018 Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill, Tenn.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
The copper mining and sulfuric acid plant at Copperhill — her caption's own words.
R019 Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill, Tenn.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
The tank farm below the works.
R020 Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill, Tenn.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
A sedan runs toward the plant past a pair of billboards. Even here, somebody was selling something.
R021 Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill, Tenn.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1939 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
She shot the basin on the same film she had carried to the island. The red needed no help.
Along the river
R022 Planting corn along a river in Tennessee
Marion Post Wolcott · May 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
May, nineteen forty. Planting corn along a river in northeastern Tennessee.
R023 Planting corn along a river in northeastern Tennessee
Marion Post Wolcott · May 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
The same bottomland from the bluff — two men working one long strip between the river and the hill.
The crop
R024 Field of Burley tobacco on farm of Russell Spears, drying and curing barn in the background, vicinity of Lexington, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
September, nineteen forty. Kentucky. On the farm of Russell Spears, outside Lexington, the burley is heavy and the curing barn is waiting.
R025 Cutting Burley tobacco and putting it on sticks to wilt before taking it into the curing and drying barn on the Russell Spears' farm, vicinity of Lexington, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Cutting tobacco and spearing it onto sticks, with the corn standing at the edge of the field.
R026 Burley tobacco is placed on sticks to wilt after cutting, before it is taken into the barn for drying and curing on the Russell Spears' farm, vicinity of Lexington, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
The cut rows, sticked and wilting in the sun.
R027 Burley tobacco is placed on sticks to wilt after cutting, before it is taken into the brn for drying and curing, on the Russell Spears' farm, vicinity of Lexington, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Her captions walk through the work like a manual: the plants wilt on sticks before they go into the barn for drying and curing.
R028 Burley tobacco is placed on sticks to wilt after cutting,before it is taken into the barn for drying and curing, on the Russell Spears' farm, vicinity of Lexington, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Weather building over the cut crop.
R029 Taking Burley tobacco in from the fields after it had been cut, to dry and cure in the barn, on the Russell Spears' farm, vicinity of Lexington, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Then the team comes out and the loading starts.
R030 Taking burley tobacco in from the fields, after it has been cut to dry and cure in the barn, on the Russell Spears' farm, vicinity of Lexington, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
One man pitches from the ground. The man on top builds the load.
R031 Taking Burley tobacco in from the fields, after it has been cut, to dry and cure in the barn, Russell Spears' farm, vicinity of Lexington, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Then the wagon rolls for the barn. This is the leaf that paid the taxes in these counties. And this is the color it actually was.
Court Day
R032 Farmers and townspeople in center of town on Court Day, Compton i.e. Campton, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
The same month, east into the hills. Campton, the seat of Wolfe County, on Court Day, when the county came to town.
R033 Farmers and townspeople in the center of town on court day, Campton, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Farmers and townspeople in the center of town — her caption. The awning behind them reads Tyler's Place.
R034 Farmers and townspeople in the center of town on Court Day, Campton, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
The crowd runs the whole length of the walk. Overalls stand next to Sunday shirts.
R035 Farmers and townspeople in center of town on Court day, Campton, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
A wagon holds the middle of the street. There is a parasol in the crowd, and a cupola over the roofline.
R036 Farmers and townspeople in town on Court day, Campton, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Men with canes, women in print dresses, and nobody in a hurry.
R037 Mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses on "Jockey St.," near the Court House, Campton, Wolfe County, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Behind the storefronts is the reason half the county is here. Jockey Street: mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses, near the courthouse. The caption is Wolcott's.
R038 Mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses on "Jockey St.," near the Court House, Campton, Wolfe County, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Buggies and saddle stock fill the lot.
R039 Mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses on "Jockey St.," near the Court House, Campton, Wolfe County, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
A trade is made face to face, with a hand on the animal.
R040 Mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses on "Jockey St.," near the Court House, Campton, Wolfe County, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
From the fence you can see the whole market at once — a loaded wagon in the foreground, the stock along the far side.
R041 Mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses on "Jockey St.," near the Court House, Campton, Wolfe County, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Boys hold the edge of the lot and watch how it is done.
R042 Mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses on "Jockey St.," near the Court House, Campton, Wolfe County, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
On the corrugated building at the edge of the trading, a sign: Wolfe County Office, W P A Project Superintendent. The New Deal kept an address on Jockey Street.
R043 Mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses on "Jockey St.," near the Court House, [Campton, Wolfe County, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
A boy leads the horses up the lane past the barn.
R044 Mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses on "Jockey St.," near the Court House, Campton, Wolfe County, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
The lot runs back to the brick buildings of the town.
R045 Mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses on "Jockey St.," near the Court House, Campton, Wolfe County, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Sizing up a bay: hands in pockets, no hurry anywhere.
R046 Mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses on "Jockey St.," near the Court House, Campton, Wolfe County, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
The same horse from the other side. The trade is mostly conversation.
R047 Mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses on "Jockey St.," near the Court House, Campton, Wolfe County, Ky.
Marion Post Wolcott · Sept. 1940 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Saddled and standing. Whatever changed hands that day, this is the record of it.
The war
R048 Cemetery at edge of Romney, West Va.
John Vachon · 1942 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
Three years later. A different photographer. A different country. John Vachon: the cemetery at the edge of Romney, West Virginia. Billboards face the graves. The war is on.
R049 Road out of Romney, West Va.
John Vachon · 1942 or 1943 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
And the road out of Romney, one car on it, headed west. The color file closed in nineteen forty-four, at about sixteen hundred frames.
D01 Road out of Romney, West Va. (detail)
John Vachon · 1942 or 1943 · Library of Congress · FSA/OWI colour transparency. View the original.
The black-and-white negatives made the Depression's famous pictures. These few rolls are what those same years actually looked like. If you want to know how the Copper Basin turned that color — we told that story, and the link is below.
Sources
- [S1] Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Color Photographs, Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress (collection fsac). https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/fsac/
- [S2] FSA/OWI Black-and-White Negatives, Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress (collection fsa). https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/fsa/
- [S3] Marion Post Wolcott, 41 color transparencies used here, June 1939 – Sept. 1940: St. Helena Island / Beaufort / Manning, S.C. (June–July 1939); Ducktown–Copperhill Copper Basin, Tenn. (Sept. 1939); corn planting, northeastern Tenn. (May 1940); Russell Spears farm, vicinity of Lexington, Ky., and Court Day at Campton, Wolfe County, Ky. (Sept. 1940). Each frame's LOC item page is linked from its exhibit record; captions quoted in narration are the photographer's own, read from the LOC catalog records. Dates in credits are the records' created/published dates, not harvest dates. The Copper Basin caption quoted in scene 13 — "fumes from smelting copper for sulfuric acid have destroyed all vegetation and eroded the land" — is verbatim from the LOC records for the Ducktown/Copperhill items.
- [S4] John Vachon, 2 color transparencies, Romney, W.Va., LOC dates [1942] and [1942 or 1943]: LC-DIG-fsac-1a34276 (cemetery at edge of Romney), LC-DIG-fsac-1a34283 (road out of Romney).
- [S5] "Wolfe County Office. WPA Project Superintendent" (scene 42) — read directly off the sign in LC-DIG-fsac-1a34387 (item 2017877561) at full resolution; crop kept at research/kodachrome-south/r042_sign.png.
- [S6] *Why Is There a Desert in Tennessee?* (this channel, episode 041) — the Copper Basin's backstory referenced in the close; its own sources are in that video's description. https://youtu.be/b0gkUaO0Im0