Monongalia County, West Virginia, 1938
In September 1938 the photographer Marion Post Wolcott photographed Scotts Run in Monongalia County, West Virginia, for the Farm Security Administration. These are 12 of those negatives, with the captions she wrote for them.
The negatives are federal works. They are in the public domain, they are held by the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress, and anyone may reproduce them. Each caption below is hers, transcribed in full — including the parts a video has no room for.
Her captions for West Virginia name the town, not the county. The county given here was resolved against the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System, Domestic Names file for West Virginia.
Coal miners and their families watching the girls and women's skirts blow up in the "crazy boat" at the outdoor carnival. Granville, West Virginia
Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, September 1938. Library of Congress record.
Coal miner's wife and children (note child's legs) in back of their home. Bertha Hill, West Virginia
Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, September 1938. Library of Congress record.
Coal miner's son carrying home bag of coal swiped from cars. The "Patch," Chaplin, West Virginia. Note live wires. See 50054-E
Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, September 1938. Library of Congress record.
Coal miners' homes, company houses, with piles of old slag and slate. "The Patch," Cassville, West Virginia
Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, September 1938. Library of Congress record.
Coal miner going to get some water down the hill from his home. "The Patch," Chaplin, West Virginia
Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, September 1938. Library of Congress record.
Coal miner's home, company house, the "Patch," Cassville, West Virginia
Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, September 1938. Library of Congress record.
Coal miner and two boys "sittin" around on front porch. Bertha Hill, West Virginia
Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, September 1938. Library of Congress record.
Unemployed miner's home he built. "It'll be purtier when I paint it." Scotts Run, Osage, West Virginia
Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, September 1938. Library of Congress record.
Coal miner's child taking home kerosene for lamps. Company houses, coal tipple in background. Pursglove, Scotts Run, West Virginia
Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, September 1938. Library of Congress record.
Coal miner's wife says, "I ain't no good Christian but I know when I'se doin' folks wrong." Bertha Hill, West Virginia
Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, September 1938. Library of Congress record.
Mexican miner carrying water the way he learned as a boy, from about two miles downhill. Bertha Hill, West Virginia
Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, September 1938. Library of Congress record.
Miners very often give each other haircuts on front porch. Note rain barrel. The "Patch," Chaplin, West Virginia
Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, September 1938. Library of Congress record.