While The Great Depression did hit the Georgia economy hard in the 1930s, the economy of Georgia was already on a downhill turn during the 1920s. The effects of the boll weevil, which first arrived in 1915, had ravaged Georgia’s cotton fields and further hurt sharecroppers’ chances of turning a profit. Right before The Great Depression hit, nearly two-thirds of Georgia’s farmers were sharecroppers with families living on less than $200 per year. The South’s dependence on cash crops pushed struggling farmers to use every inch of land they had to produce enough crops to survive. This led to extremely poor farming practices that depleted the soil. The Great Depression started in 1929 and continued until 1949. These pictures are the stories of the lives of Georgia folks who lived through it. Here are 10 more rare photos taken during The Great Depression in Georgia.
- Black Only Housing in Atlanta, GA — March 1936
Walker Evans via Library of Congress/LC-USF342-T01-008035 Back in the 1930s, housing was segregated between African Americans and Caucasians.
- Main Street in Macon, GA — March 1936
Walker Evans via Library of Congress/LC-USF346-008114 This main street in Macon sure looks different than Macon today. All the cars look exactly the same!
- Gainsville, GA
Carl Mydans via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-006611 “Gainesville, Georgia, showing the destruction of buildings resulting from the April 6 tornado which came very close to the Resettlement Administration project at Tupelo, Mississippi” — Original caption.
- Flue cure tobacco barn on Irwinville Farms, Irwinville, GA — June 1936
Carl Mydans via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-006699 Flue cure tobacco is a type of cigarette tobacco. Today, it accounts for more than 90 percent of tobacco production.
- Waterwheel in Cornelia, GA — June 1936
Carl Mydans via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-006841 This waterwheel was probably an important source of energy for the owner, Logan Maxwell.
- Cotton Sharecropper Family in Macon, GA — July 1937
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017922 A great photo of a typical Georgia family during this time.
- Ex-slave and wife who live in a decaying plantation house. Greene County, GA — July 1937
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017944 A couple of African-Americans that were once slaves.
- One man and one mule in Greene County, GA
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-DIG-fsa-8b15388 “The cotton sharecropper’s unit is one mule and the land he can cultivate with a one-horse plow. Greene County, Georgia” — Original Caption. As the original photo description suggests, this one farmer and one mule cultivated a small piece of land.
- Tenant Farmer and his Family in Greene County, GA — July 1937
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017977 “Tenant family with six children who are rural rehabilitation clients of the Farm Security Administration. Greene County, Georgia” — Original Description
- Sharecropping Couple near Hartwell, GA — July 1937
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-018096 Another typical sharecropping family in Georgia during The Great Depression.
What do you think of these rare and insightful pictures? Do you have any stories of family members coming up during the depression in Georgia? Share them with us in the comments below!
Walker Evans via Library of Congress/LC-USF342-T01-008035
Back in the 1930s, housing was segregated between African Americans and Caucasians.
Walker Evans via Library of Congress/LC-USF346-008114
This main street in Macon sure looks different than Macon today. All the cars look exactly the same!
Carl Mydans via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-006611
“Gainesville, Georgia, showing the destruction of buildings resulting from the April 6 tornado which came very close to the Resettlement Administration project at Tupelo, Mississippi” — Original caption.
Carl Mydans via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-006699
Flue cure tobacco is a type of cigarette tobacco. Today, it accounts for more than 90 percent of tobacco production.
Carl Mydans via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-006841
This waterwheel was probably an important source of energy for the owner, Logan Maxwell.
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017922
A great photo of a typical Georgia family during this time.
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017944
A couple of African-Americans that were once slaves.
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-DIG-fsa-8b15388
“The cotton sharecropper’s unit is one mule and the land he can cultivate with a one-horse plow. Greene County, Georgia” — Original Caption. As the original photo description suggests, this one farmer and one mule cultivated a small piece of land.
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-017977
“Tenant family with six children who are rural rehabilitation clients of the Farm Security Administration. Greene County, Georgia” — Original Description
Dorothea Lange via Library of Congress/LC-USF34-018096
Another typical sharecropping family in Georgia during The Great Depression.
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