It’s hard to look at these rare photos taken in Southern California during the great depression without feeling like we have it pretty easy in comparison. Here’s a glimpse of a very trying time in our history when poverty, hunger, and homelessness were at its peak. We still have many struggles today, but these images should serve as a reminder of the challenges the depression-era generation had to endure.
- A crowd gathers in Calipatria (formerly Date City) waiting for relief checks. Photo captured in 1935.
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- A homeless family making their way toward San Diego on foot in order to find work and shelter. Photo captured in 1939.
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- The poverty of the great depression in Kern County, right on the edge of Southern California.
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- Working at the pea fields in 1935 in Nipomo, California while barely making a living.
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- Photograph captured by Dorothea Lange at a relief camp in Imperial County in 1929.
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- This family with 11 children scrapes by in Imperial County and works the farm during pea harvest to support the family. Pictured here in 1939.
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- Along a desolate highway in Riverside County in 1937 a car fuels up at a roadside service station. I imagine having a functional car and being able to pay for gas was quite a luxury during this time.
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- A long and dusty road on the way to Los Angeles in search of work in 1935.
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- A family barely surviving in 1935 in a makeshift tent in Nipomo, California. This photo was part of the famous “Migrant Mother” series photographed by Dorothea Lange.
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- A couple in Imperial County poses for a photo during a time of struggle.
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- A migrant farm family from California in 1935 in search of a rehabilitation camp.
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- A family of seven in 1936 struggling day by day in Blythe, California in Riverside County.
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If you would like to see more vintage photos captured in Southern California take a look through these galleries: SoCal Rare Vintage Photos; Photos from 1910; Photos captured in 1930.
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Flickr/US National Archives
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Library of Congress/dorothea lange
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