ABSTRACT
The truth of the matter is that in the case of the Resettlement Administration (RA)—established by law on May 12, 1933—and its subsequent extension, the Farm Security Administration (FSA)—established by law on July 22, 1937—both of these assumptions proved correct. Thus, despite the multiplicity of diverse programs that were grafted on the RA structure, the primary mission of the agency was focused by Rexford Tugwell and his advisers on rural rehabilitation, which became synonymous within the RA with the visions of the common good. The RA-FSA photo-historical section assembled, in serendipitous fashion, a team of professional photographers who, at first glance, documented the Depression, but who, in fact, openly revealed the soul of the nation. The images they created stimulated a wide variety of responses—artistic acclaim, an aroused public consciousness, an embarrassed sense of guilt.
