Photograph · Dorothea Lange · March 1936
Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother
Migrant Mother is Dorothea Lange's photograph of Florence Owens Thompson and three of her children, made in March 1936 at a pea-pickers' camp in Nipomo, California, for the US Farm Security Administration. As a US government work it is in the public domain and is held by the Library of Congress.
History
Lange was working for the Resettlement Administration (soon renamed the Farm Security Administration) documenting the Depression in rural America. Driving home past Nipomo she stopped at a camp where the pea crop had frozen and the pickers had no work. In about ten minutes she made six exposures of Thompson and her children; this is the last and closest of them.
The picture ran in the San Francisco News within days and helped bring food relief to the camp. It became the defining image of the Depression and one of the most reproduced photographs of the century. Thompson, a Cherokee woman born in Oklahoma in 1903, had lived and worked in California since 1926; she was identified publicly only in the late 1970s.
The negative belongs to the FSA/OWI collection at the Library of Congress, which holds the whole series.
What the print shows
A woman of thirty-two, seated, her right hand at her chin, looking past the camera; two children lean on her shoulders with their faces turned away, and a baby sleeps in her lap. The background is the canvas of a lean-to tent. The print is reproduced in black and white from a high-resolution public-domain scan, in a vertical 2 : 3 shape.
Source and licence
Source: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (FSA/OWI Collection).
Licence: Public domain. The photograph was made by a federal employee as part of her official duties, and the Library of Congress lists no known restrictions on its publication.
The Library's record is titled 'Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two. Nipomo, California.'
Available sizes and prices
Print: paper or framed Etsy listing 4547575878
| Size | Paper | Framed |
|---|---|---|
| 8 × 12 in (21 × 30 cm) | $29.99 | $98.99 |
| 12 × 18 in (30 × 45 cm) | $44.99 | $137.99 |
| 16 × 24 in (40 × 60 cm) | $54.99 | $195.99 |
Printed to order, shipped in 2–5 business days, free US shipping. Paper: matte fine-art paper. Framed: real wood (black, white, wood, dark wood), shatterproof acrylic, ready to hang.
Buy
- Dorothea Lange Migrant Mother 1936 (print: paper or framed): buy on Etsy, from $29.99.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is the woman in Migrant Mother?
- Florence Owens Thompson (1903–1983), a migrant farm worker photographed with three of her seven children at Nipomo, California, in March 1936.
- Why is Migrant Mother free to reproduce?
- Dorothea Lange made it as a government employee for the Farm Security Administration, so it is a US government work with no copyright. The Library of Congress holds the negative.
- How many photographs did Lange take of Thompson?
- Six, over about ten minutes. This is the final, tightly framed one; the earlier frames show the tent and more of the family.
- Is the print in colour?
- No. It is a black-and-white photograph reproduced on matte fine-art paper, available unframed or framed.
Sources
Published 20 Oct 2026; prices are the live Etsy prices as of 20 Oct 2026. The work is public domain; this page's text is © ThinkDotCo and may be quoted with a link.