Appalachian Beaver County

During the Great Depression, professional photographers were hired by the federal government’s Farm Security Administration (FSA) to document a wide range of scenes of everyday life across America. John Vachon (1941), Jack Delano (1935, 1940, 1941), and Arthur Rothstein (1938) visited several communities within Beaver County and cataloged 521 images. 

The images documented were carefully planned so as to best represent the activities within communities. The Library of Congress states that FSA’s staff photographers “were given specific subjects and/or geographic areas to cover. These field assignments often lasted several months. Before beginning their assignments, photographers read relevant reports, local newspapers, and books in order to become familiar with their subject. A basic shooting script or outline was often prepared. Photographers were encouraged to record anything that might shed additional light on the topic that they were photographing, and they received training in making personal contacts and interviewing people.”