Archival photographs with verified rights statements, plus labeled AI illustrations.
Illustrations (AI-generated)
Hero images on this site are labeled illustrations, not historical photographs.
Freight at dusk. Illustration of a freight under evening sky—atmosphere for the museum entrance, not an archival photograph. Illustration (AI-generated). Not a historical photograph.Railyard in fog. Illustrated railyard mood piece for gallery atmosphere—not an archival photograph. Illustration (AI-generated). Not a historical photograph.Jungle campfire. Illustrated camp scene for gallery atmosphere—not an archival photograph. Illustration (AI-generated). Not a historical photograph.
Farm Security Administration / OWI (Library of Congress)
Each photograph below was checked on its Library of Congress item record for a rights advisory of “No known restrictions.” Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection (except where noted).
Boy riding freight. West Texas. A boy riding freight in West Texas—youth on the move during hard years. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.Itinerant laborers riding the freight. West side of San Joaquin Valley, California. Itinerant laborers on a San Joaquin Valley freight—west-side harvest traffic. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.Toward Los Angeles, California. Toward Los Angeles: the road west as hope and rumor for displaced families. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.Boy hopping freight train, Dubuque, Iowa. Boy hopping a freight in Dubuque—Midwest yards as departure points. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.These men are both past sixty. Neither of them expect ever to work again. Two men past sixty who expected never to work again—riding freights Omaha to Kansas. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.Car on siding across tracks from pea packing plant. A twenty-five-year-old Oregon itinerant by a pea plant siding—“on the road.” Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.Migrants' tents are a common sight along the right of way of the Southern Pacific. Migrant tents along the Southern Pacific right-of-way near Fresno. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.Family who traveled by freight train. Washington, Toppenish, Yakima Valley. A Yakima Valley family who moved by freight—whole households, not only single men, rode the cars. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.Looking east down the railroad track, near Calipatria, California. Bindlestiffs waiting for a freight near Calipatria—the pause before the next jump. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.Colored itinerants on oil tank cars passing through Kingsbury, California. Black itinerants on oil tank cars through Kingsbury, California. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.Hobo wakes up early in the morning from his bed alongside a corral. Dawn beside a corral in the Imperial Valley—sleeping rough between jobs. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.Looking east down the railroad track, near Calipatria, California. Looking east down the track near Calipatria: itinerants with bindles watching for a ride. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.Family who traveled by freight train. Washington. Toppenish, Yakima Valley: freight travel as family migration during the harvest season. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.Family who traveled by freight train. Washington, Toppenish, Yakima Valley. Another frame from the Yakima Valley freight-family series—mobility under economic pressure. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.FSA photograph (2017771752). Bindle men along the Calipatria tracks—FSA documentation of waiting, not riding. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.Seven men at door of freight car. Seven men framed in a freight-car doorway—a classic yard portrait. Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection. Source.
