It’s hard to look at these rare photos taken in Southern California during the great depression without feeling like we have it pretty easy in comparison. Here’s a glimpse of a very trying time in our history when poverty, hunger, and homelessness were at its peak. We still have many struggles today, but these images should serve as a reminder of the challenges the depression-era generation had to endure.

1. A crowd gathers in Calipatria (formerly Date City) waiting for relief checks. Photo captured in 1935.
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2. A homeless family making their way toward San Diego on foot in order to find work and shelter. Photo captured in 1939.
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3. The poverty of the great depression in Kern County, right on the edge of Southern California.
Flickr/US National Archives
4. Working at the pea fields in 1935 in Nipomo, California while barely making a living.
flickr/library of congress
5. Photograph captured by Dorothea Lange at a relief camp in Imperial County in 1929.
Flickr/library of congress/dorothea lange
6. This family with 11 children scrapes by in Imperial County and works the farm during pea harvest to support the family. Pictured here in 1939.
library of congress/dorothea lange

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7. Along a desolate highway in Riverside County in 1937 a car fuels up at a roadside service station. I imagine having a functional car and being able to pay for gas was quite a luxury during this time.
library of congress/dorothea lange
8. A long and dusty road on the way to Los Angeles in search of work in 1935.
flickr/library of congress/dorothea lange
9. A family barely surviving in 1935 in a makeshift tent in Nipomo, California. This photo was part of the famous "Migrant Mother" series photographed by Dorothea Lange.
flickr/library of congress/dorothea lange
10. A couple in Imperial County poses for a photo during a time of struggle.
Library of Congress/dorothea lange
11. A migrant farm family from California in 1935 in search of a rehabilitation camp.
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12. A family of seven in 1936 struggling day by day in Blythe, California in Riverside County.
wikimedia commons

If you would like to see more vintage photos captured in Southern California take a look through these galleries: SoCal Rare Vintage Photos; Photos from 1910; Photos captured in 1930.

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