Times of Sorrow & Hope Cmbk: Documenting Everyday Life in Pennsylvania During the Depression and World War II : A Photographic Record [Hardcover]

Allen Cohen (Author), Miles Orvell (Author), Ronald L. Filippelli (Author), Farm Security Administration (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2003

Between 1935 and 1946 a group of photographers working for the federal government fanned out across the country to record American life in pictures. Among them were some of the great documentary photographers in American history--including Marjory Collins, Jack Delano, Sheldon Dick, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Ben Shahn, and Marion Post Wolcott. This massive photographic project, carried out primarily under the auspices of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and the Office of War Information (OWI) and later preserved at the Library of Congress, was unrivaled in scope: no comparable attempt to document life in this country has ever been made. Times of Sorrow and Hope is devoted to the Pennsylvania photographs in the FSA-OWI collection. It is both a book and an on-line catalog. The Times of Sorrow and Hope book features 150 selected images from the approximately 6,000 Pennsylvania photographs, and they cover themes ranging from coal mining, steelworkers, and women in wartime industries to cities and small towns, farm life, family life, and life among the Amish and Mennonites. The book also includes an essay introducing the FSA-OWI project, an introduction to the catalog of the entire collection of Pennsylvania photographs, and a historical essay on Pennsylvania during the Great Depression and World War II. The Website that accompanies this volume offers a complete catalog of all the FSA-OWI photos taken in the state as well as detailed descriptions and guides to the images. The catalog is keyed to the holdings of the Library of Congress, which houses the fullest collection of FSA-OWI photographs. Times of Sorrow and Hope provides a unique, comprehensive visual and written record of Pennsylvania history as the state struggled through one of its darkest periods and confronted new economic, political, and social challenges.

Editorial Reviews

Review

These selections are a reflection of the historically significant work done in Pennsylvania; an enduring record of time in America. --Pittsburgh Post Gazette, October 5, 2003

This book of black-and-white pictures by some of the 20th century's most talented photographers recaptures the authentic look and feel of the Depression and the home front during World War II. As an added bonus, these are Pennsylvanian scenes and people. --Richard Robbins, Tribune-Review

From the gaunt faces of black children in an Aliquippa slum to the grubby faces of coal miners in Pittsburgh, Times of Sorrow and Hope captures in moving photographs the faces and emotions of the years of the Great Depression and early World War II in Pennsylvania. --Mary O. Bradley, Harrisburg Patriot News

About the Author

Allen Cohen is a retired librarian from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a bibliographer, and a film historian whose most recent book is a co-authored work, John Huston: A Guide to References and Resources (1997). Ronald L. Filippelli is Professor of Labor Studies and Industrial Relations as well as the Associate Dean for Administration and Undergraduate Studies at Penn State. His most recent book is a co-authored work, Cold War in the Working Class: The Rise and Decline of the United Electrical Workers (1995), and he has been a frequent reviewer for The International Journal of the History of Photography.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 265 pages
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State Univ Pr; First Edition edition (June 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0271022523
• ISBN-13: 978-0271022529
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 11.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,025,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keystone State photos., September 7, 2004

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Times of Sorrow & Hope Cmbk: Documenting Everyday Life in Pennsylvania During the Depression and World War II : A Photographic Record (Hardcover)

This is the sixteenth book of FSA photos devoted to a State that I've bought and I must say it is probably the best one from any criteria, photo selection, editorial content, design and printing. Though it only has 150 photos, a close second to this title would be 'Picturing Texas' (ISBN 0876111401) which has more than 200, it makes up for less visually by having such a comprehensive editorial content.

The photos are divided into twelve sections and this being Pennsylvania there are sections covering coal and steel production. Each page has a photo with a short caption centered below and if I have a criticism it would be that the images could have been just a bit bigger. It is the pages after the photos that make this book so interesting to me. There is an introduction to the Times of Sorrow & Hope on-line catalog (this includes the six thousand taken in Pennsylvania) followed by two indices, one of photographers and one of places. Next, Appendix A has excellent expanded captions and technical information about the 150 photos, Appendix B is a biography of the main photographers and lastly a Resources and Selected Bibliography. The bibliography is particularly impressive because it is so comprehensive and nicely includes books about individual photographers. I've not really commented on the actual photos, they are all extraordinary visual documents, as one would expect.

The book overall I found very impressive, the editorial and production could be a useful template for any State Historical Societies that want to publish images from the FSA files about their State, this is what your publication should aspire to.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Our family album, January 4, 2009

By 

Linda Bulger (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Times of Sorrow & Hope Cmbk: Documenting Everyday Life in Pennsylvania During the Depression and World War II : A Photographic Record (Hardcover)

In 1935 the Farm Security Administration launched an initiative to document the effects of the U.S. Government's agricultural policies. Under the leadership of Roy Stryker the project quickly developed a wider brief, that of producing a sociological portrait of American life. The "shooting scripts" for the original brief were explicit but the wealth of photographs documenting urban and rural life was more far-reaching. The FSA was dismantled when the U.S. became involved in World War II and in 1942-43 the project resided in the Office of War Information. There were 164,000 black and white photographs produced between the Depression and the end of the war, and 1,600 color photographs. Today the majority of this record is archived and catalogued on-line, and it's breathtaking.

TIMES OF SORROW & HOPE is a canvass of the FSA-OWI photographs from Pennsylvania. Of the 6,000 in the record, 150 are reproduced in this book by Allen Cohen and Ronald L. Filippelli. Wonderful as the photos are, the book is vastly enriched by the editorial material provided. The book opens with a history of the state that provides context, followed by some basic information about the FSA-OWI project for those unfamiliar with it. At the back of the book there is an introduction to the on-line catalog (parallel project to the book) and to the indexing by photographer and by location. The appendices provide detailed notes on the 150 photos in this book and summary biographies of the photographers whose work is included. Finally, the book closes with a resource and bibliography section.

And in the middle, the photographs, arranged in twelve sections covering the state's urban, rural and industrial characters. It would be impossible to convey the impact of these photos in words, but if you have the opportunity to study the book you will know that you're looking at your family album. Breathtaking. Iconic. Incredibly moving. A beautifully produced book.

Conceived with a utilitarian brief, the FSA-OWI project became so much more. Photographer Ansel Adams once said that the FSA photographers were "a bunch of sociologists with cameras" (pp. 29-30). I wonder whether the administrators and photographers realized the importance of what they were creating--and I wonder what history will honor as an equally perceptive characterization of our current decade

Linda Bulger, 2009