Museum artifact

"Can't make it. Want to go back."

Dorothea Lange wrote their words into the caption: they had come seven months earlier, and had eaten up the car and eaten up the tent. She did not write down their names. This is where the exhibit starts — with a family already beaten, so t

"Can't make it. Want to go back."
"Can't make it. Want to go back."February 1936 · California
What the record says

The photograph, the source, and the unknowns

Dorothea Lange wrote their words into the caption: they had come seven months earlier, and had eaten up the car and eaten up the tent. She did not write down their names. This is where the exhibit starts — with a family already beaten, so that the road ahead is not mistaken for an adventure.

Archive caption
Drought refugees, penniless Oklahomans camped along the highway
Creator
Dorothea Lange
Date
1936-02
Credit
Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Black-and-White Negatives
Rights
US Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information collection — LoC states the contents are in the public domain and free to use and reuse; work of the US federal government · Public Domain Mark 1.0
Share and cite

This link carries its own context.

Dorothea Lange. “"Can't make it. Want to go back.".” 1936-02. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Black-and-White Negatives. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017759652/. Viewed via Nostalgia Museum artifact 751, reviewed 22 August 2026. https://getnostalgia.ai/museum/artifact/QcEYXx4d87xRlzMp/751

Continue in public

Return to the wall or follow the method.