Dust Bowl - taken near LaMar, Colorado
Margaret Bourke-White, American, 1904 - 1971
1954
Gelatin silver print
Overall: 16 × 19 7/8 in. (40.6 × 50.5 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Jane and Raphael Bernstein
2010.84.34
Geography
Place Imaged: Lamar, United States, North America
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Photograph
Research Area
Photograph
Not on view
Inscriptions
On print, above image: crayon notations; stamped, in blue ink, on reverse: Life Photo [Life Magazine stamp] Margaret Bourke-White; stamped: Jan 7 1955
Label
Acclaimed photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White documented the impact of extreme drought conditions on rural families, first in the 1930s and again in the 1950s when Life magazine sent her to Colorado to document similar circumstances. The unusually deep furrows seen here were intended to stabilize the soil by creating large clumps of dirt that would retain finer particles, even in fierce winds. Unfortunately, it was not enough. Most of this region had formerly been range land, and the transition to wheat production diminished the soil’s stability.
From the 2022 exhibition This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Barbara J. MacAdam, former Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art; Thomas H. Price, former Curatorial Assistant; Morgan E. Freeman, former DAMLI Native American Art Fellow; and Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art
Course History
HIST 6, NAS 30, History of the American West, Ben Madley, Winter 2012
ARTH 17, History of Photography, Katie Hornstein, Spring 2013
ENGS 7.02, Climate Change, Mary Albert, Winter 2019
ENGL 75.2, Climate Fiction, Alysia Garrison, Spring 2019
COLT 10.21, Coming to America, Gerd Gemunden, Spring 2019
ENGS 7.02, Climate Change, Mary Albert, Winter 2020
ANTH 7.05, Animals and Humans, Laura Ogden, Winter 2022
GEOG 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Winter 2022
ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022
ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022
ARTH 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2022
ANTH 12.26, Environmental Justice, Maron Greenleaf, Winter 2022
ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022
ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022
SPAN 65.15, Wonderstruck: Archives and the Production of Knowledge in an Unequal World, Silvia Spitta and Barbara Goebel, Summer 2022
Anthropology 73.01, Main Currents in Anthropology, Sienna Craig, Spring 2024
Exhibition History
This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 5–April 18, 2022.
Waterways: Tension and Flow, Harrington Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 4-August 23, 2015.
Provenance
Sotheby's, New York, New York; sold to Jane and Raphael Bernstein, Ridgewood, New Jersey, November 6, 1984; lent to present collection, 2010; given to present collection, 2013.
This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.
We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu