Several government agencies took part in the documentation, chief among them the Farmers Security Administration and the Federal Writers Project.  The FSA produced several thousand photographs; the Writers Project collected numerous oral histories from local residents.  In New Mexico, the project documented many of the places familiar to us today -- like Farmington, Las Cruces and Santa Fe -- and some not-so-familiar places, like Field, Pie Town and Willow Springs. 

New Mexico in the late 30s was a mixture of homesteaders and longtime residents.  The FSA photographs and FWP oral histories show the delicate balance of this mix, sliding  just along the dividing line between the two groups, alternately indulging in one side or the other.  Collectively, the whole is greater than the parts, and the gaps between those parts begin to appear incidental. 

 The FSA photographs and FWP oral histories are now in the collections of the Library of Congress, and are being moved onto the Internet in a project appropriately titled "The American Memory Collection."  Now you can enjoy these photographs and tales from New Mexico's long-ago from your own living room. 

WEB SITES 

• American Memory Collection - the full collection of digitized and indexed prints, motion pictures and sound recordings in the Library of Congress.

• Color Photographs from the FSA/OWI - the Farmers Security Administration and Office of War Information color photographs collection.  Select either BROWSE and find New Mexico in the index or use SEARCH to locate all New Mexico prints.

•  American Life Histories - the Federal Writers Project's collection of documents.  Use Select a State to find New Mexico or Search by Keywords for specific locations.

•  Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal - a homepage with numerous links to other FDR or New Deal sites.

BOOKS  

• Weigle, Marta.  New Mexicans in Cameo and Camera.  Albuquerque: The University of New Mexico Press, 1985.