Farmer and wife near Warner, Oklahoma. This man has obtained a government loan (FSA) in Oklahoma. However, he migrated to Arizona two years ago and spent a good year and a half there doing day labor in the cotton and sugar beet fields. He still has one son in Arizona doing day laborer work. Another son returned home to his family saying he wanted to be with them all and all would fare alike; the close family feeling is evident in this class of people. This man's main complaint was of the poor condition of his house. He said that owners would do nothing to help the farmer; "Why if I want a piece of wire to fix a fence I have to steal it of course. I have not done exactly that yet, but if I knew where there was a piece handy I would.", 1939

Arranged in chronological order by following Lee’s career, this series consists of 352 photographs. Two-hundred forty-eight of these photographs by Russell Lee were taken for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) between 1936 and 1942. The gems of this part of the collection are the 130 vintage prints; most are complete with captions typed on the back by FSA staff. Making up the balance of the FSA group are 94 modern prints, 6 panels from the 1965 retrospective at the University of Texas, and 18 study prints.

The balance of the photographs in the Collection provide the researcher with a comprehensive overview of Russell Lee’s entire career, including his other government work: 16 photographs were taken during his commission during World War II with the Air Transport Command, and 37 photographs are from his tenure with the Coal Mines Administration.

Russell Lee’s post government work is also well-represented, including 33 photographs taken for a variety of publications after World War II in Texas where he photographed and spent most of his life. Other commercial work is also represented in his photographs of Italy for a photo essay in the Summer 1961 issue of Texas Quarterly(5 photographs), and his work for Standard Oil New Jersey/ARAMCO(6 photographs). The Collection also contains 8 photographs taken during the winter of 1935-1936, prior to Russell Lee joining the staff of the FSA, and one image of unidentified location or date.

Titles with brackets were provided by the curator, titles without brackets indicate that they are the original title.