The Farm Security Administration (FSA) was created in 1935 as part of the New Deal. The FSA hired several photographers from 1935 to 1944 and sent them across the United States to document the country. These included Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Ben Shahn, among other famous photographers.

It is estimated that more than 250,000 images were made during this period. Less than half of those have survived. The Library of Congress has placed 164,000 developed negatives online. These images are taken from that collection.