1930s photos
Photographs from the 1930s, many by Farm Security Administration photographers: the Great Depression, farms and small towns, city streets, cars and gas stations, and everyday life.
Why they are free to use: Most are US government works (FSA/OWI) or come from collections given without restrictions. Each photo's page shows its own licence basis and a credit line.
Main streets
Search “main street of a small town with cars” for more, or ask Claude for it
Downtown Greensboro Alabama in the 1930s
1935–1936 · Library of Congress
Houma Church Street paved 1930s WPA
1930 · Wikimedia Commons
Main street. Aliquippa, Pennsylvania Contributor Names: Rothstein, Arthur, 1915-1985, photographer Created / Published: 1938 July.
1938-07 · Library of Congress
Minetta Good - Main Street, c. 1935–40
c. 1935 · Wikimedia Commons
Duval Street extends from the Gulf to the Atlantic, Key West, Florida - 1938
1938-01 · Library of Congress
Main Street Macon Georgia 1936
1936-03 · Wikimedia Commons
Circleville1938Main
1938 · Library of Congress
Shopping center of Eldorado, Illinois, 8b17495
1939-01 · Library of Congress
On the farm
Search “farmer working in a field” for more, or ask Claude for it
Farmer spreading grasshopper bait
1937-06 · Library of Congress
Wife of Tenant Farmer
1937-06 · Library of Congress
Farm Security Administration: Farm hand in Goldendale, Washington.
c. 1936 · Library of Congress
Power farming displaces tenants from the land in the western dry cotton area. Childress County, Texas Panhandle
1938-06 · Library of Congress
Marion Post Wolcott Blairs Virginia
1939-09 · Library of Congress
Thirteen year old daughter of African American sharecropper planting sweet potatoes, 8b33988
1939-07 · Library of Congress
Tenantless farm Texas panhandle 1938
1938-06 · Library of Congress
African American tenant farmer topping tobacco. Person County, North Carolina.
1939-07 · Library of Congress
City life
Search “people on a city street” for more, or ask Claude for it
Street scene at 13th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.
1935–1942 · Library of Congress
People lining up at Times Square
1930-12-08 · Wikimedia Commons
Hester Street between Allen and Orchard Streets in Manhattan in1938
1938-05-03 · Wikimedia Commons
Two women walking-Natchez-Mississippi-1935
1935-10 · Library of Congress
Riders on floats toss favors to the crowds at Mardi Gras at Lafayette Square New Orleans Louisiana
1935–1938 · Wikimedia Commons
Gateway District-Minneapolis-a
1939-09 · Library of Congress
Washington, D.C. Aerial view of a street corner
1939 · Library of Congress
Waiting for FERA on the Avenue
1935-10 · Library of Congress
Work
Search “men at work in a factory or construction site” for more, or ask Claude for it
Loaders-Pillsbury-Minneapolis
1939-09 · Library of Congress
Indian construction workers at Boulder Dam, Nevada
c. 1935 · U.S. National Archives
Sitdown strikers in the Fisher body plant factory number three. Flint, Michigan
1937 · Library of Congress
Millville, New Jersey - Glass wool. Frederick and Dimmock Co. The second shot of the process
1937-03-26 · U.S. National Archives
THE "SHEMEN" EDIBLE OIL FACTORY IN HAIFA. מפעל "שמן" בחיפה.D20-016
1935 · Wikimedia Commons
Workmen building the community center in Arabi Louisiana in 1936
1936-06-30 · Wikimedia Commons
Paterson, New Jersey - Textiles. Madison Silk Co. Setting new warp onto loom.
1937-03-18 · U.S. National Archives
Alfred castagne
1939 · Wikimedia Commons
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