Elba Farm Labor Camp

In 1942, amid World War II labor shortages, the Farm Security Administration (FSA) constructed a labor camp located near the town of Elba, NY. It was one of many across the country whose purpose was to facilitate the harvest of valuable crops.

These four images scanned from film negatives are characteristic of a group of more than 70 that document the often dire conditions that brought people to Western New York--starvation, forced removal from relief rolls--and that characterized life here. It's not uncommon to see children in photographs without shoes.

1. Migrants waiting for work in front of US Employment Service Office

2. Migrants from New York City and West Virginia washing up after work

3. West Virginia workers negotiating with two local tomato farmers

4. Relief client from New York City talks with migrant laborers from West Virginia

A year after these photos were taken, the FSA had transported 255 laborers from Jamaica to work in the fields. They were charged $7/week for food consisting primarily of bread and protested that they were near to starvation, harvesting crops. The Elba site persisted into the 1970s as "Frank Weathers Labor Camp" and sometimes made it into police blotter reports for incidents of violence among its impoverished inhabitants.

Collier, John Jr.

Film negative