Above: Photographers in the Farm Security Administration (FSA) took a large number of photos documenting life in America, especially in rural areas, in the 1930s and 40s. In this FSA photo, we see Frederick Oliver's new farm, Summerton, South Carolina, June 1939, purchased with the New Deal's farm tenant purchase program. Through the Bankhead-Jones Act of 1937, tenant farmers could receive long-term low-interest loans to purchase their own farms and make a go of it. Photo by Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration's (FSA), courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Above: The Misch family in their new home, in Labette County, Kansas, acquired through the tenant purchase program, 1940. Photo by John Vachon, Farm Security Administration, courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Above: In 1934, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, the Soil Conservation Service, and the U.S. Forest Service undertook an enormous photography project in order to better map and understand the terrain, features, forests, and farmlands of the United States. This newspaper excerpt is from the United Press, here appearing in The Daily News-Times (Neenah, Wisconsin), June 10, 1937. Image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
Above: One of the tens of thousands of photographs taken by the WPA and stored at the National Archives. Most of the photos were taken to document the WPA's work (its use of taxpayer dollars), but they also tell interesting stories of life in the 1930s and early 40s. Above we see a man at a WPA transient camp in Omaha, Nebraska, learning how to weld, October 1936 (in just a few short years, welding would become a very important and marketable skill in the defense industries). Transients were men who wandered the countryside looking for work, and the camps were set up to provide food, shelter, social connection, employment, job training, and labor market and government assistance information. Photo from the National Archives.
Above: Patsy Moses, former slave, Waco, Texas, November 1937. This is one of 500 photos taken by the WPA as part of its project to interview former slaves. Photo from the Library of Congress.
Above: "Mori's Restaurant, 144 Bleeker Street," November 1935, one of the hundreds of photos taken by Berenice Abbott for her now-famous and WPA-sponsored "Changing New York" project. Photo from the New York Public Library.
Above: Using Google Streetview, we can see what the Mori's Restaurant building looks like today (also see the Wikipedia entry for Mori's Restaurant). Screengrab from July 7, 2026, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
Above: Lewis Hine was a sociologist and photographer who played a role in exposing the harshness of child labor in the early part of the 20th century. During the New Deal he took photographs for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and also the WPA's National Research Project (NRP), the latter of which was a survey of industries regarding the effect of new technologies on the labor market. The book above--published by the Howard Greenberg Library and Gallery, 2017--showcases many of Hine's photos from the NRP (various workers and industries). Image above scanned from a personal copy.
Above: A new school for Morgan, Utah, funded by the New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA), 1939. See the next image for the photo credit.
Above: This is the back of the previous photo. New Deal agencies sometimes contracted private sector photographers to take photos, and this may have been the case here. Image from the National Archives.
Above: Numerous newspaper articles--such as this one from the Tyler Morning Telegraph (Tyler, Texas), August 21, 1941--suggest that the WPA used its own employees (some of whom probably came from the ranks of the unemployed) to take photos of its many thousands of projects. Image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
Above: One of the 20,000+ National Youth Administration (NYA) photographs stored at the National Archives. This one was taken in California, on December 5, 1940, and the description for it reads, "Toy donations received at the National Youth Administration's Long Beach Office, 1206 W. 7th St., are inspected by Ray Schakel and Mary Weissker, National Youth Administration workers, who will help recondition the toys for free distribution through the Christmas Cheer Fund." Photo from the National Archives.
Above: The description for this photograph--taken in the Virgin Islands, January 1942--reads, "St. John Health Clinic, only medical center available for the island's 800 inhabitants. Built by NYA youth with materials transported by sailboat from St. Thomas." The back reads, "Please credit photograph by National Youth Administration" and "Credit line should read: NYA photo by Stoumen." Photo from the National Archives.
4.2 Million+ New Deal Photos
Below are some of the major statistics of photographs taken by or for New Deal agencies and projects. Most of these are collections within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and so it's important to remember that other repositories have their own collections too. For example, the University of Maryland College Park Archives has thousands of WPA photos showcasing projects carried out in Maryland.
The photographs of the New Deal are an incredibly rich resource of information and history, and also an inspiration from the past about what government can do when it is of, by, and for the people.
Farm Security Administration (270,000):
About 270,000 photographs, "hailed as one of the great, perhaps the greatest, collection of documentary photographs in the world" (Robert E. Snyder, "Marion Post and the Farm Security Administration in Florida," The Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 65, No. 4 (Apr., 1987), pp. 457-458).
See the Library of Congress's FSA collection, and search through 170,000+ photos, here.
Rural Electrification Administration (13,660):
"13,660 images - Photographic Prints and Negatives: Electrification of farms and the subsequent transformation of rural life, including the installation of equipment and telephones; uses of electricity in rural areas; and REA buildings, administrative activities, and personalities, including Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, 1936-64" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
Tennessee Valley Authority (674,732):
"Photographic Negatives: Indexed "Kodak Negative File" including facilities, agricultural projects, TVA dedications and celebrations, natural disasters, family homes, and family portraits, 1933-76 (531,000 images, in Atlanta)...
"Photographic Negatives (in Atlanta): Construction progress on TVA dams, locks, power plants, nuclear plants, and other facilities, 1933-92 (98,732 images)...
"Aerial Photographs (45,000 items): Film negatives originally used for making maps of the Tennessee River watershed, with accompanying index maps (200 items), 1933-43" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
National Youth Administration (20,500):
"Photographs (20,500 images): NYA personnel, facilities, exhibits, programs, and projects, 1936-42" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
Historic American Buildings Survey (206,671):
As of June 2026, 206,671 photographs (National Park Service, accessed July 7, 2026).
National Park Service (limited to certain New Deal agencies) (1,117):
"Photographs: CCC, National Youth Administration, Public Works Administration, and Work Projects Administration artists, draftsmen, and engineers preparing museum displays at the Western Museum Laboratories, 1934-41 (ML, 880 items)...
"Photographs: ECW and CCC projects in the Washington, DC, area, 1934-37 (CCC, 237 images)" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
Agricultural Adjustment Administration (2,248,458):
"Photographic Prints and Negatives: Agriculture in the United States, including soil conservation, commodity control and support, and Agricultural Adjustment Administration publicity pictures; National Guard camps; and U.S. military in World War II, 1939-46 (AAA, 7,548 images; AAA-A, 250 images)...
"Aerial Photographs: United States, by county, for acreage allotment determinations, 1935-42, with photo indexes (2,241,000 items)" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
U.S. Forest Service (43,123):
"Aerial Photographs: National forests, 1932-42, with photomosaic indexes (43,123 items)" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026)
Soil Conservation Service (541,313):
"Photographs: Land utilization project construction work ("Photographs of Work on Jobs"), primarily from the collection of W.M. Russell, Chief, Division of Land Development, but including also photographs from the Project Plans Division, 1933-42 (2,814 images)...
"Photographs: Sedimentation studies, showing rivers, dams, reservoirs, floods, and topographical features throughout the United States, 1935-46 (SSWR, SS, WR 6,190 images)...
"Photographs: Research projects, 1933-48 (HC, 4,000 images)...
"Aerial Photographs: Demonstration projects, land utilization projects, soil conservation districts, and counties, principally in the southwestern United States, compiled by the Cartographic Division, 1934-49 (484,900 items)...
"Photographic Prints: Soil conservation operations and dry land agriculture in ND, SD, MT, and WY, including scenes of erosion, farmlands, cultivation methods, and irrigation systems, 1935-39 (DL, 3,409 images)...
"Photographs: SCS general photographic files, covering the United States, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, South America, Europe, and Africa, documenting land types and utilization, research activities, agricultural and conservation methods, soil erosion, dust storms, floods, and various Works Progress Administration and CCC projects, 1933-77 (G, P, 40,000 images)" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
Civilian Conservation Corps (10,342):
"Photographs (10,342 images): General file of the Emergency Conservation Work and the CCC, 1933-40 (GE, 1,300 images). CCC programs, taken by Wilfred J. Mead and other photographers, 1940- 42 (G, 2,900 images). Recruitment and early activities of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's reforestation army, 1933 (EC, 125 images). Camp superintendent reports (1 ft.) containing photographs illustrating enrollee activities at twelve camps supervised by the National Park Service, 1933-35 (MP, 500 images). Religious services in camps and nearby communities in Kentucky, 1935-42 (GK, 1,000 images). Black enrollees in vocational training sessions, recreational activities, and conservation and other work programs, 1936-39 (N, 150 images). Army corps area enrollee activities, 1936-38 (GC, 3,525 images). Interiors of buildings at Camp Ludington-Pere, MI, ca. 1938 (MOPA, 18 images). CCC activities, ca. 1938, and companies, 1939- 42 (SU, 800 images). Restoration by native enrollees of Haida and Tlinget totem poles in the Tongass National Forest, AK, 1938-39 (TA, 24 images)" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
Public Works Administration (12,240):
"Photographic Prints and Negatives (7,640 images): Used in the 1939 committee report "Survey of the Architecture of Completed Projects of the Public Works Administration," 1933-39 (SA(A), 3,040 images). Rejected for use in the committee report, 1933-39 (SAR, 4,600 images)" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
Social Security Administration (70,557):
"(25,557 images): Social security programs and benefits; recipients, workers, unemployed individuals, agency personnel, posters and exhibits, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing Social Security Act, 1936-48...
"(45,000 images):SSA personnel, conferences and conventions, beneficiaries, and social service programs; SSA personnel visiting rural and urban areas; Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry S. Truman; and President Lyndon B. Johnson signing Medicare law, 1953-70 (SSA)" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
Indian Arts and Crafts Board (7,887):
"7,887 images, Photographs: Native American arts and crafts in the Alaska State Museum and the Alaska Historical Museum, 1960... Photographs of Native American museums, schools, and businesses, 1965-72... Eastern Cherokee and other Native American artists and artisans, 1950-83... Photographic prints of Indian life, cultural events, and arts and crafts, 1939-81... " (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (limited to the New Deal years) (14,581):
"Photographs (960 images, in Los Angeles): Individual Indians; and documenting progress under various New Deal programs, including housing, relief, Emergency Conservation Work, agricultural extension, and health matters, ca. 1936-42...
"Photographic Prints (600 images, in Fort Worth): Surveys of Osage County taken for the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, 1937-45 (200 images). Surveys of Verdigris River in Osage County for the Soil Conservation Service, 1936 (400 images) ...
"Photographs (2,775 images, in Kansas City): Civilian Conservation Corps-Indian Division project work on Pine Ridge Reservation...
"Photographs (220 images, in Kansas City): Activities of the Emergency Conservation Work program and Civilian Conservation Corps at the Pipestone Indian School, Pipestone National Monument, Pipestone Reservation, and Lower Sioux and Prairie Island communities, 1934-41...
"Aerial Photographs (10,026 items): Soil Conservation Service composite prints of the Fort Apache, Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni Reservations, 1934-36... Emergency conservation and relief efforts on Indian agencies and reservations, in albums, 1927-40 (RA, 1,600 images)" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
U.S. Antarctic Service Expedition (18,592):
"Aerial Photographs : Oblique photographs taken with hand held cameras of parts of Antarctica in the vicinity of East Base and West Base, including negatives and an incomplete set of prints, 1940 (12,256 items)...
"Photographs: U.S. Antarctic Expedition, photographed by Richard E. Byrd, 1939-41 (AS, 6,336 images)" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
Virgin Islands Government (1,000):
"Photographs (1,000 images): Federal projects sponsored by the CWA, PWA, WPA, and CCC, to improve housing, public buildings, parks, and roads; scenic views; schools, jails, and a leper colony; and a visit by Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes. 1931-43" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
Treasury-Related New Deal Art Programs (31,100):
"Photographs: Works completed under the Treasury Relief Art Project, 1935-39 (TR, 2,000 images)...
"Photographs: Works completed under the Public Works of Art Project, 1933-34 (PWAP, PWD, 4,400 images). Artworks commissioned by the Section of Fine Arts, 1934-43 (CMS, 2,100 images; PS, 9,600 images; GA, 13,000 images)" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
Housing (1,010):
"Photographs: Public Works Administration and USHA housing projects, 1935-52, including some by Peter Sekaer, (HA, 1,010 images)" (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
Works Progress Administration (110,244):
"Photographs (43,500 images): WPA programs and activities nationally, and in Washington, DC, New York City, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico; and WPA and New Deal officials, and celebrities, 1934-42...
"Photographs (10,903 images): General photographic file and state file documenting fine arts, practical arts, and art education; artists and their work; exhibits; art centers; officials and dignitaries such as FAP director Holder Cahill, and Eleanor Roosevelt, 1936-43 (AG, AS; 3,050 images). New York City art program, including artists and their work, 1935-43 (AN, ANM, ANS; 7,303 images). Depictions of life in New York City, including photographs by Sol Liebsohn, David Robbins, and Helen Levitt, 1935-39 (ANP, 550 images)...
"Photographs (25,092 images): FTP productions, 1935-39 (TMP, 92 items). Production scenes, sets, theaters, audiences, performances, playwrights, WPA officials, and politicians, 1935- 39 (TC, TS; 25,000 images)...
"Photographs (2,500 images): For use in American Guide series, including scenic, historical, cultural, and economic aspects of each state; Washington, DC; PR; and VI; and including also some scenes of Venezuela, 1936-42...
"Photographs (3,000 images): Survey of federal archives, 1936-41...
"Photographs (3,484 images): Documenting program, activities, and personnel of WPA, FERA, and FWA, including pictures taken during area studies of AL, IA, OH, and PA; exhibits, construction projects, conservation, health and sanitation efforts; employed and unemployed workers; WPA art, music, theater and writing activities; and WPA officials, including Florence Kerr, 1934-42 (MP, 3,300 images). Defense-related projects such as construction of airports, roads, armories, training camps, and navy yards, 1935-42 (DC, 184 images)...
"Photographic Prints (10,765 images): WPA professionals in New York City at work in white collar positions, 1935-39 (NY, 700 images). Public Works Administration projects, such as highways, public buildings, bridges, dams, schools, sewer systems, and power plants, 1936-42 (PWA, 3,500 images). Hurricane and flood damage in CT, MA, RI, VT, and NH, 1938 (MPH, 150 images). Prints used in Reports on Progress of the Works Program, 1935-41 (PS, 446 images); and in reports highlighting state accomplishments, 1935-43 (PR, 3,439 images). State WPA projects, primarily TX, 1937-41 (PT, 2,530 images)...
"Aerial Photographs (11,000 images): Vertical and oblique views of airports and airport sites collected by the WPA Airways and Airport Section and used in an historical survey of U.S. airport systems, 1922-40..." (NARA, accessed July 7, 2026).
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