As we look at what’s ahead for Arkansas in 2016, it’s still very important to remember where our great state has been. The Natural State made it through the Great Depression despite years of struggling, and it speaks to the tenacity of our residents that we’re the descendants of hard work and faith in progress. Looking at photographs of homes and families in Arkansas during that period of time reminds us to be proud of where we’ve been and gives us strength to face whatever comes at us in the future.
A testimony to perseverance, this Marianna family built this ark for themselves after being flooded out of their homes. Photographer Edwin Locke took this picture in February 1937.
Although it's not a house, this Lakeview barn photographed in December 1938 by Russell Lee is a unique reminder of the improvements and projects that took place around Arkansas during the Great Depression to assist farmers and residents in need.
As part of a project for sturdier and more permanent homes, the Plum Bayou township in Jefferson, Arkansas saw the construction of houses like this one photographed in April 1937 by Arthur Rothstein.
This Washington County sharecropper's cabin was photographed in November 1935 by Arthur Rothstein. The well-worn path on the property shows that despite its disrepair, this cabin had to make do as a home for an entire family.
This chicken roost outside a Boone County log cabin was photographed in October 1935 was made from a hollowed log, showing one example of the ingenuity and creativity of the farmers of the age who had to get by on nearly nothing.
Photographer Ben Shahn took this photo of a Boone County family in October 1935 outside of their temporary log cabin house, a part of the local rehabilitation project that housed farmers and their families.
Arthur Rothstein took this August 1935 photograph of a Mississippi County sharecropper and his family in front of a company house at the Wilson cotton plantation.
It’s one thing to hear about the hard times from our relatives who lived in this difficult era, but photographs from the 1930s always send a clear message about how Arkansas residents struggled during the Great Depression. Share your memories and thoughts about this era. What feelings do these photos from the Great Depression evoke in you?
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