Arthur Rothstein - Coal miners, Birmingham, Alabama, 1937

Arthur Rothstein (American, 1915–1985)
Coal miners, Birmingham, Alabama, 1937 Feb.
Arthur Rothstein photographed coal miners and their housing in Birmingham, Alabama, in February 1937 as part of a project for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) to document poverty during the Great Depression. The photos aimed to support New Deal initiatives.
Rothstein's work in Birmingham was commissioned by the United States' Resettlement Administration, which later became the Farm Security Administration (FSA).
Documenting Poverty:
The goal of these photographs was to document the living conditions of coal miners in Alabama to support government efforts to combat the Great Depression.
Rothstein is recognized as one of America’s premier photojournalists. His career spanned five decades. He worked for the the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in 1937.
The incentive for his February 1937 assignment came from the interest generated by congressional consideration of farm tenant legislation sponsored in the Senate by John H. Bankhead, a moderate Democrat from Alabama with a strong interest in agriculture. Enacted in July, the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act gave the agency its new lease on life as the Farm Security Administration.
No names of the men were recorded, only their faces remain as they prepared for a hard day at work. Feel free to list names of the men you can identify in the Reply section at the bottom of this page. I’ve numbered the pictures to identify them.
https://www.alabamapioneers.com/coal-hardened-faces-1937-photographs-coal-miners-around-birmingham-alabama-reflect-difficulty-job/