Photographer Russell Lee, 1942. At age 32 in 1935 a landscape artist who had been trained as a chemical engineer purchased his first camera. Five years later Russell Lee traveled to Boise, Nampa, and Caldwell to document the success of the Farm Security Administration. LC-USW3- 019997-C. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs DivisionFarmers’ market in Boise, 1941.Auction of second-hand goods in Boise, 1941.Lumber manufacture, 1941. Mills of the Boise Lumber Company, Boise, Idaho. Ninety-five percent of the production is ponderosa pine, the other five percent consists of fir and larch. This plant is building up a stockpile (June 1941) to supply quantities of ammunitions cases. Lumber for army barracks and cantonments is also being supplied.for a ball game in Nampa, 1941.High school girls who are going to the pea fields, Nampa, 1941.Pea picker with hamper of peas, Nampa.Onion plants gone to seed 1941, Canyon, County, 1941.Farm workers unloading their car and moving into tent in which they will live at the FSA (Farm Security Administration) migratory labor camp mobile unit. Wilder, Idaho. Tents are floored. The fact that sanitary facilities are available, hot and cold running water for bathing and laundry work, showers and laundry tubs, community building for entertainment and a trailer clinic are a part of the camp make it a better place to live than perhaps the tents would indicate.Children in school at the Farm Security Administration farm workers’ camp. Caldwell, 1941. The photographer explained that “Caldwell did not have room in its schools for the children from the camp and Caldwell furnishes teachers and FSA furnishes schoolrooms at the camp.”Caldwell street scene, 1941.Mother and children at water fountain in Caldwell, 1941.Water fountain. Caldwell, Idaho.Modern living in Malheur County, 1941. Russell Lee. The photographer explained that “Mrs. Botner, wife of a rehabilitation borrower, [is] wringing laundry in electric wringer. This family has been on the project for about five years.Coaling station on railroad at Nampa, Idaho.Pouring milk into cans. Farm of member of the Dairymen’s Cooperative Creamery. Caldwell, Canyon County, Idaho.Greased pig race, Fourth of July, Vale, Oregon.Lunch, Fourth of July celebration, Vale, Oregon.
