Biography
Arthur Rothstein (1915–1985) was one of the most influential photographers of the New Deal era. As a leading member of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) photography unit, Rothstein helped create the visual record that defined American life during the Great Depression.
His Missouri photographs — documenting farms, drought, rural poverty, and migration — remain some of the most important images in the state’s New Deal archive.
Missouri Documentation
Rothstein traveled through Missouri in the mid‑1930s as part of the FSA’s mission to record the conditions of rural America. His Missouri work includes:
- farm families affected by drought
- tenant farmers and sharecroppers
- dust‑stricken fields and failing crops
- small‑town storefronts and daily life
- migrant labor routes through the state
These photographs provide an irreplaceable record of Missouri’s economic and social landscape during the Depression and remain central to the state’s visual history.
New Deal Program Involvement
Rothstein worked under the Farm Security Administration, a New Deal agency dedicated to improving rural conditions and documenting the realities of American life. His work emphasized:
- documentary truth
- human dignity
- social awareness
- the lived experience of rural Americans
His Missouri photographs stand among the most important documentary images ever produced in the state.