June 1935

“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.”