37 Photographs That Capture Defining Moments in American History

Perhaps one of the most famous photographs of 19th-century America, “Migrant Mother,” taken by photographer Dorothea Lange, has become synonymous with the experience of the Great Depression.

Frances Owens Thompson and her two children in the photograph quite literally put a face to the nation’s struggle. Once she took the photos, Lange showed them to the authorities, who sent 20,000 pounds of food to the “Pea-Pickers” camp where she had taken the photo.