Summer 2013 - Oregon State Library: State Employee Information ...

Car Camping This page:
A family, seen with their tent
and automobile, enjoys a
public campground. Building
and improving recreational
facilities, such as hiking trails
and campgrounds, were
common projects for the
CCC workers in Oregon.
Dust Bowl Facing page,
top: The Depression coincided
with the Dust Bowl, leaving
many farmers destitute. In this
image, people trudge through
the blowing dust that covers
everything but the windmill,
visible in the upper right corner.
Note that the figures’ shoes are
blanketed in drifts of dust, all
but the one that rests on a ledge
above the dust-covered ground.
OREGON QUARTERLY PHOTO.
Farm Auction Facing page,
center: When banks foreclosed
on a family farm, auctioneers
were brought in to sell the
buildings, land, and equipment.
Here, the couple on the right is
losing their farm; the man near
the auctioneer is raising his hand
to bid. Friends and neighbors
would often conspire to keep bids
low, and sell what they bought
back to the farmer for pennies.
Some would show up with guns,
as we see on the far left, to
prevent violence or intimidate the
auctioneer.
Waking in a Cemetery
Facing page, bottom: Some of
Clough’s images were likely
inspired by tales shared by CCC
workers from the East Coast.
With a touch of dark humor, he
depicts a policeman scratching
his head, apparently puzzled
at the sight of so many people
waking up in a New York
cemetery. People who found
themselves homeless might sleep
in parks, cars, forests—even
cemeteries. OREGON QUARTERLY
PHOTO.
36 OREGON QUARTERLY | SUMMER 2013