Depression Era: 1930s: Depression

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Or view larger version. Imperial Valley. April 1935. Dorothea Lange. Gelatin silver print. Collection of Oakland Museum of California. Gift of Paul S. Taylor.

This photograph shows a migrant labor camp in the southern California town of Holtville. Many such migrant labor camps sprang up all over the state during the Depression. By 1940, approximately 200,000 people migrated to California, but they had no home to go to, and moved around following opportunities for farm work.