Museum artifact

Destitute pea pickers in California

For decades this photograph was captioned only by condition — "Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two." The Library of Congress record now opens: "Photograph shows Florence Thompson with three of her children." The picture did not change.

Destitute pea pickers in California
Destitute pea pickers in CaliforniaMarch 1936 · Nipomo, California
What the record says

The photograph, the source, and the unknowns

For decades this photograph was captioned only by condition — "Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two." The Library of Congress record now opens: "Photograph shows Florence Thompson with three of her children." The picture did not change. The caption did. A photograph whose people get their names back is the whole argument of this wall.

Archive caption
Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two. Nipomo, California
Creator
Dorothea Lange
Date
1936-03
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. “Destitute pea pickers in California.” 1936-03. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Black-and-White Negatives. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017762891/. Viewed via Nostalgia Museum artifact 752, reviewed 22 August 2026. https://getnostalgia.ai/museum/artifact/QcEYXx4d87xRlzMp/752

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