Not until the '70s was the Great Depression-era woman in the picture identified as Florence Owens Thompson. Dorothea Lange's 1936 photograph of a worried … Mother of seven children, Florence, aged 32 at that time, was a pea picker (a derogatory term for an unskilled laborer in USA). Migrant Mother – iconic photograph of Florence Owens Thompson. Taken in California, the photograph shows two of her children huddled around her. She was paging through a new history workbook and saw a photograph labeled, “Migrant Mother, Nipomo, Calif., 1936.” Florence Owens Thompson was born Florence Leona Christie on September 1, 1903, in Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma. The administration's mission was to showcase the plight of migrant workers to officials in Washington. Mother of seven children, Florence, aged 32 at that time, was a pea picker (a derogatory term for an … Share. Lange was concluding a month's trip photographing migratory farm labor around the state for what was then the Resettlement Administration. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. As Geoffrey Dunn wrote in the San Luis Obispo New Times in 2002, Thompson and her children disputed other details in Lange’s account, and sought to dispel the image of themselves as stereotypical Dust Bowl refugees. Both her parents were of Cherokee descent. Florence Owens Thompson (September 1, 1903 – September 16, 1983), born Florence Leona Christie, was the subject of Dorothea Lange's photo Migrant Mother (1936), an iconic image of the Great Depression.The Library of Congress entitled the Migrant Mother image, "Destitute pea pickers in California. mezőgazdasági munkás. In an Associated Press article that followed, titled “Woman Fighting Mad Over Famous Depression Photo,” Thompson told a reporter that she felt “exploited” by Lange’s portrait. Entitled Migrant Mother, the picture was taken in 1936, a time when most depictions of the depression were of the urban poor. Her father, Jackson Christie, had abandoned her mother, Mary Jane Cobb, before Florence was born, and her mother remarried Charles Akman (of Choctaw descent) in the spring of 1905. Thompson was a full-blooded Cherokee born in Indian Territory (which later became the state of Oklahoma). The photograph features Florence Owens Thompson with three of her children in a lean-to canvas tent. Age thirty-two. Seventeen-year-old Florence married Cleo Owens, a 23-year-old farmer's son from Stone County, Missouri, on February 14, 1… Florence Owens Thompson pictured with her children in Nipomo, California, 1936. But by the time it arrived, the still-anonymous woman and her family had moved on. Florence Owens Thompson: Date of birth: 1 September 1903 Indian Territory: Date of death: 16 September 1983 Scotts Valley: Place of burial: California; Country of citizenship: United States of America; Occupation: farmworker; Authority control Q464743 VIAF ID: 6435150943160726760006 Library of Congress authority ID: n2017064025. Florence Owens Thompson. Let's put it that way.". Thompson's expression of worried uncertainty as her children cling to her for comfort came to exemplify this difficult time period in American history. In 2008, Florence’s daughter, Katherine McIntosh, told CNN that her mother would put the baby in a sack and drag it along as she picked cotton. We survived. Florence Owens Thompson, született Florence Leona Christie (Cseroki Indián Territórium, Amerikai Egyesült Államok, 1903. szeptember 1. Thompson's passing represents the loss of an American who symbolizes strength and determination in the midst of the Great Depression.”, READ MORE: How the Dust Bowl Made Americans Refugees in Their Own Country. Thompson was a full-blooded Cherokee born in Indian Territory (which later became the state of Oklahoma). The famous Dorothea Lange depression-era photograph of a woman and her children portrays a seldom visible side of the Great Depression. In fact, McIntosh's mother - Florence Owens Thompson, a farm worker who raised 10 children and died in 1983 - has become a national symbol … Several more photographs were taken closer up to Florence Owens Thompson. This is her story. By 1983, five years after claiming her identity as the “Migrant Mother,” Thompson was living alone in a trailer. According to Dunn, thousands of letters poured in, along with more than $35,000 in contributions. One of them, Troy Owens, flatly denied that his mother had sold their tires to buy food, as Lange had claimed. But she worked hard her entire life and remained an inspiration to her family members throughout. With the lines creasing her careworn, weather-beaten face, and the young children clustered around her, Florence Owens Thompson -- migrant farm worker and mother of seven -- looks far older than 32. A woman in ragged clothing holds a baby as two more children huddle close, hiding their faces behind her shoulders. Her father, Jackson Christie, had abandoned her mother, Mary Jane Cobb, before Florence was born, and her mother remarried Charles Akman (of Choctaw descent) in the spring of 1905. Florence Owens Thompson (September 1, 1903 – September 16, 1983), born Florence Leona Christie, was the subject of Dorothea Lange's famous photo Migrant Mother (1936), an iconic image of the Great Depression. Oct 15, 2017 - Florence Thompson in 1979. Florence Owens Thompson with two of her daughters. At the time of the picture, she had another child with Jim Hill, and the two were making their way north through California looking for field labor jobs. Age thirty-two. “Or she was borrowing to fill in what she didn’t have.". The photographer Dorothea Lange had taken the shot, along with a series of others, days earlier in a camp of migrant farm workers in Nipomo, California. She said she could pick 450-500 pounds each day – she didn't even weigh 100 pounds herself. These people were unskilled, poorly educated workers, employable only in menial jobs, such as … The family lived on a small farm in Indian … Age thirty-two. Florence Owens Thompson, born Florence Leona Christie was the subject of the Migrant Mother. Florence Thompson was a widowed migrant worker and mother of seven children when this photo, called Migrant Mother, was taken in 1936 by photographer Dorothea Lange. Depicting an itinerant farm worker, Florence Owens Thompson, and five of her children apparently in the grips of despair on the side of the road, this single image came to surmise an entire era. NBC is helping publicize it. The family lived on a small farm in Indian … Her father, Jackson Christie, had abandoned her mother, Mary Jane Cobb, before Florence was born, and her mother remarried Charles Akman (of Choctaw descent) in the spring of 1905. Mother of seven children. Florence Owens Thompson. Her father, Jackson Christie, had abandoned her mother, Mary Jane Cobb, before Florence was born, and her mother remarried Charles Akman (of Choctaw descent) in the spring of 1905. Their young family grew year by year. This photograph gained iconic status as face of the Great Depression. In 1921, at the age of 17, Florence married Cleo Owens, a 23-year-old farmer. Thompson would later tell the reporter who found her that she had learned to pick any kind of crop necessary. The children who were old enough to walk would work alongside their parents. Nipomo, California. Mother of seven children. Mother of seven children. Get to know the woman and her life behind the infamous photo. Florence Owens Thompson The Story Behind the Image. – Scotts Valley, Kalifornia, Amerikai Egyesült Államok, 1983. szeptember 16.) One is a more frontal and horizontal portrait in a Madonna pose, with her eyes averted from the camera. Nipomo, California." Thompson died in Scotts Valley, California, on September 16, 1983. “We survived, let’s put it that way.”. Dorothea Lange's became the chronicler of the Great Depression after her photograph of Florence Owens Thompson and her destitute family became known as the Migrant Mother. Born: Florence Leona Christie September 1, 1903. Six of them were with her first husband, Cleo Owens, who died of tuberculosis before their last child was born. Florence Owens Thompson, born Florence Leona Christie was the subject of the Migrant Mother. Mother of seven children. Florence Owens Thompson pictured with her children in Nipomo, California, 1936. Soon after the photos were published in the San Francisco News, the U.S. government announced it was sending 20,000 pounds of food to the pea-pickers’ campsite. The Library of Congress titled the image: "Destitute pea pickers in California. By the time Dorothea Lange took her picture, Thompson had seven children. Florence Owens Thompson was born in 1903, in Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma, the daughter of Cherokees displaced from their native tribal land. Mother of seven children. She was born in present-day Oklahoma and married at the age of 17. Florence Leona Christie Owens Thompson died Sept. 16, 1983; under her name on her gravestone, the inscription reads, “Migrant Mother – A Legend of … mezőgazdasági munkás. Both her parents were Cherokee. Florence Owens Thompson was born Florence Leona Christie on September 1, 1903, in Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma. Florence Owens Thompson (September 1, 1903 – September 16, 1983), born Florence Leona Christie, was the subject of Dorothea Lange's photo Migrant Mother (1936), an … She suffered from cancer and heart problems, and at one point her children had to solicit donations for her medical expenses. The woman featured in this photograph is Florence Owens Thompson. Florence Owens Thompson. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. From the moment it first appeared in the pages of a San Francisco newspaper in March 1936, the image known as “Migrant Mother” came to symbolize the hunger, poverty and hopelessness endured by so many Americans during the Great Depression. Uncovering the woman behind Dorothea Lange’s famous Depression-era photograph. Florence Owens Thompson (lahir dengan nama Florence Leona Christie di Oklahoma, Amerika Serikat, 1 September 1903 – meninggal di Scotts Valley, California, Amerika Serikat, 16 September 1983 pada umur 80 tahun) adalah objek foto Migrant Mother (1936) oleh Dorothea Lange, sebuah gambar ikonik Depresi Besar. She said that [she and her children] had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed.". Thompson was born in what was then known as Indian Territory, now part of Oklahoma, in 1903. By the time Dorothea Lange took her picture, Thompson had seven children. She claimed the woman told her she was 32, that she and her children were living on frozen vegetables and birds the children had killed, and that she had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. 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