ABSTRACT
In 1940, after Lange had left the RA/FSA and she and Taylor published their photo-text, An American Exodus, the two bought a dark redwood shingled home in the Berkeley Hills. Decorating her home brought Lange joy. She placed driftwood and rocks culled from walks on the Pacific in the garden, and she planted so there were always flowers. The home’s exterior was rustic; inside was clean-lined. Lange was ruthless in her austerity; one friend described her “Shaker-like orderliness.” The ironically named “Gentlemen’s Agreement” that restricted Japanese immigration was provoked by white San Franciscans’ attempt to segregate Japanese American students from white school children. Racism and discrimination saturated the West long before war hysteria solidified the move to Japanese American incarceration. The War Department commissioned Lange to document the “largest, single forced migration in American history.” Possibly, officials sought to demonstrate their good intentions.
