The Great Depression and the New Deal: Transient Division Newsletter from Macon, GeorgiaMain MenuIntroductionThe SourceAbout this SourceAbout this EditionSupplementsBibliographyCredits and AcknowledgementsAbout SourceLabSummer Matthes1ec9b7f11c45f37c71a23d442eecaa9fa19f61c0Rachel Danna Mulick3074e76a8648c28c97c3852efc419c8a4d7d744fJordan Wilkersonfaba746c57ad0b091f1fb8ca6d2a1609b397dcf4
Cotton Field in Macon
12023-08-10T12:14:55+00:00SourceLab Editorial Board3b464ba12826c81c80b3176004793045ce87b79e1751Pictured in black and white is a cotton field.plain2023-08-10T12:14:55+00:00Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs DivisionAugust, 1937Digitization courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs DivisionGovernment Document1932-1939 United States of AmericaDorthea Lange, photographerPublic DomainPhysical ObjectSourceLab Editorial Board3b464ba12826c81c80b3176004793045ce87b79e
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12023-08-10T12:14:55+00:00Photos of Macon4plain2023-08-16T19:26:13+00:00Pictured here is a rolling store. These stores would travel door to door with “groceries, hardware, drygoods, drugs, and a variety of household and farm supplies."1
This is a cotton field and plantation house in Macon. As a southern community, cotton was an important part of Macon’s economy, especially between 1800-1865. The cotton gin, a tool that made cotton production much more efficient, was invented in 1793 and drastically increased demand for cotton. Southern communities like Macon met this demand by increasing slave labor until the abolition of slavery in 1865. Afterwards, sharecroppers and small tenant farmers farmed the cotton instead. This was the dominant labor system at the time this photo was taken.2
Footnotes
Marion Post Wolcott, Rolling store which goes from door to door selling groceries, hardware, drygoods, drugs, and a variety of household and farm supplies. Near Montezuma, Georgia, June 1939, photograph, Photogrammar, https://photogrammar.org/photo/fsa1998012649/PP/county/G1301930.↵
