Dorothea Lange's Work In American History

The Great Depression transformed American society economically, politically, and socially by changing the interaction between the people and the government. It was a turning point in American history because it solidified the role of the government in creating the New Deal and its programs to provide relief, recovery, and reform to the citizens. This historical era has been documented due to the works of renowned photographer Dorothea Lange. It is through her work that we see how “the depression created a moment of idealism, imagination, and unity in Americans’ hopes for their country.” In the following narratives authors Linda Gordon, Milton Meltzer, and William E. Leuchtenburg, reflect on the importance of the New Deal and the legacy
Emphasizing the influence Lange had on the grassroots social movements of the time and through her involvement with the Farm Security Administration it led to the challenging of the agricultural political economy and illustrated the racial system it operated. Through her humanitarian effort to support New Deal programs, she was able to document the reality of the situation of the time and the many different individuals it affected. It is through those images that we can identify the okies, the migrants, and the many different ethnicities that labored the farms. Gordon points out how Lange was “a photographer of democracy and for democracy.” Gordon states how Lange’s photographs of the depression were to “restore prosperity and prevent further depressions, to alleviate poverty and reduce inequality.” The historical significance of Dorothea Lange’s work is that it was part of a political campaign to promote New Deal policies. Through her artistry she was able to express a unique form of photography that captured the essence of the time period and of the people living in it. The sources Gordon and Meltzer use for their work are a variety of primary and secondary sources. Acquiring their sources from the Farm Security Administration’s
Leuchtenburg’s, “The Achievement of the New Deal” focuses on the necessity to reinterpret the Roosevelt years and reflect on the New Deal and its accomplishments. One of his major points is how previous scholars had viewed the New Deal as a disappointment. “The Roosevelt Administration, it has been asserted, failed to achieve more than it did not as a result of the strength of conservative opposition but because of the intellectual deficiencies of the New Dealers and because Roosevelt deliberately sought to save large scale corporate capitalism.” Leuchtenburg’s emphasis is on Roosevelt’s approach to incorporate “the university-trained experts” to institute change in the role of the government specifically business affairs. As he states in, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, “most of all, Roosevelt was a successful administrator because he attracted to Washington thousands of devoted and highly skilled men.” As a result, it led to the creation of the Banking Act of 1935, the Securities Act of 1933, and the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Other programs such as the Federal Housing Administration, Public Works Administration, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Social Security Act of 1935 transformed the role of the government by providing jobs and assistance to those in need. Leuchtenburg concludes on how under the Roosevelt administration assistance was provided not as charity, but as a right, a social right. The historical significance