From 1935 to 1944, the Farm Security Administration sent photographers to places all over the country to document rural Americans’ lives and the success of President Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. These 20 rare photos were taken in Utah during that time, and they show both the resilience of Utahns and the struggles they faced.

1. The home and family of a Utah coal miner in Price.
Dorthea Lange/Library of Congress LC-USF34-T01-009009
2. An executive at Bingham Canyon Mine, 1942.
Andreas Feininger/Library of Congress LC-USE6-D-009875
3. Teenagers in 1940's Snowville had to wash dishes much like Utah teens today (but without the benefit of a dishwasher).
Russell Lee/Library of Congress LC-USF34-037284
4. Sweeping the kitchen in front of the kitchen stove.
Russell Lee/Library of Congress LC-USF34-037301
5. When you're a farm kid in 1940, dinner is tasty!
Russell Lee/Library of Congress LC-USF34-037186
6. The brakeman on an ore train at Bingham Canyon Mine.
Andreas Feininger/Library of Congress LC-USE6-D-009883
7. Checking out the livestock in Box Elder County.
Russell Lee/Library of Congress LC-USF34-037266
8. Future coal miners in Price.
Dorthea Lange/Library of Congress LC-USF34-009044
9. A familiar scene in Box Elder County in 1940.
Russell Lee/Library of Congress LC-USF34-037216
10. The Main Store in Tropic, 1940.
Russell Lee/Library of Congress LC-USF34-038108

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11. Visiting in the parlor.
Russell Lee/Library of Congress LC-USF34-037330
12. Farmers posing with a manure spreader.
Russell Lee/Library of Congress LC-USF34-037245
13. Mormon church in Mendon.
Russell Lee/Library of Congress LC-USF33-012867
14. Mrs. Marinus Hansen of Box Elder County, shows off her shelves of home-grown canned goods.
Photo Credit
15. Orion W. Snow and his son with their new tractor, purchased with a Farm Security Administration rehabilitation loan.
Unknown photographer/Library of Congress LC-USF34-014107
16. The peach harvest near Springdale, 1938.
Dorthea Lange/Library of Congress LC-USF34-018327
17. School children in Santa Clara, 1940.
Russell Lee/Library of Congress LC-USF34-037811
18. Women quilting in 1940.
Russell Lee/Library of Congress LC-USF33-012854
19. Growing sweet corn in Snowville.
Russell Lee/Library of Congress LC-USF34-037244
20. Listening to the World Series game in St. George.
Russell Lee/Library of Congress LC-USF33-012941

I hope you enjoyed this rare look back at rural Utah during the Depression. Share your comments with us!

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