What one 1935 photograph can tell us

Mexican repatriation

A photograph, not testimony: the LOC captions Dorothea Lange’s 1935 subject as a “Mexican family” in Brawley County, California.

Mexican repatriation

A broad estimate puts at least 500,000 Mexicans and their U.S.-born children in repatriation to Mexico, 1929–39; the numerical peak came in fall 1931.

Mexican repatriation

A national total cannot show how repatriation unfolded in a California community.

Mexican repatriation

One family’s image matters, but the record names no one or says whether they repatriated. It cannot stand in for every family’s experience.

Explorer des sujets liés