“Motherless migrant children. They work the
cotton. June 1935.”
This
is the only title to a photograph that depicts three sad looking children living
on their own in the dusty, desolate area of a 1930’s cotton field. The center
of the photo shows the trunk of a thick tree, with wavy bark and some vines
hanging towards the top. Beside the tree to the left, you can see a section of
a tent, obviously the dwelling of the three children in the photograph. The tent
houses an old dilapidated stove with a bent smoke stack, a few pots and pans, a
large wash pail, and a small table. To the right of the tree, in the distance
you can see a field, dead looking and dusty, with an old pickup truck idling. The
focal point of the photo is the three children that sit or stand near the tree.
Two of the children, a boy perhaps nine years old and a girl maybe seven, sit at
the base of the tree. They wear old, worn clothes, the boy overalls and a
newsboy’s cap and the girl a tunic-like dress. Directly to the right of the
tree is an older girl of approximately twelve years stands. Her face is turned
towards the tree and she has her hands on the trunk, perhaps picking at the
bark. Beside her are old, flattened tires. She wears a thin white dress that resembles the cloth of a food sack. All the children look rather
hopeless and the youngest girl looks a little bit angry. The boy is simply
staring off into the distance.
The
“story” of this photograph is clear: these children have next to nothing. They have
no family except each other, no one to take care of them, no substantial sources
of food, no warm place to spend the night, and no hope. The caption of the
photo says that these children work in the cotton fields. That is certainly not
an occupation that will give them very much money, especially considering that
they are children. This leads the viewer of the photograph to infer that these unhappy
children will perhaps always look this unhappy. They will never get ahead, for
they will have few opportunities for advancement. It would take a miracle or the
kindness of some well off stranger to help them succeed. The viewer sees that
they must raise themselves and each other and with all that time working in the
cotton fields they will have no time to attends school or even to play. It’s
almost hard to imagine that they had time to pose for this photograph. Because of
the time in which they live, the 1930’s during the Dustbowl, there will be
virtually no one to care for them or to take them under their wing. The faces
of the children add to this story. The younger girl’s face is hardened and
angry but also a little sad; she knows what her future holds. She thinks that
her life will never get better, and that she will never be happy. The boy is
looking off into the distance looking dejected but not angry. His face is
perhaps the shining focal point of the photograph. He is saddened by his
situation but not yet defeated; he had not yet given into anger. On his face
you can see the smallest glimmer of hope that says, “Maybe, just maybe, we can
survive this.”
