Life in the U.S. during the World War II, Through the Lens of Marjory Collins

American photojournalist Marjory Collins was born in New York City in 1912. She worked as a photojournalist and documentary photographer for significant agencies. She was invited to work for the Foreign Service of the United States Office of War Information after writing about Hoboken, New Jersey for U.S. Camera and Travel. She wrote about the American way of life and the war effort for several assignments there. As part of the new emphasis on multiculturalism, she contributed photographic coverage of African Americans and citizens of German, German, Italian, and Jewish descent.

Collins traveled to Africa and Europe on government and commercial assignments during 1944 while working freelance for an Alaska construction company. Her subsequent work included writing about civil rights, the Vietnam War, and women’s issues.She also edited the American Journal of Public Health in the 1960s. An active political activist, Collins cofounded the feminist journal Prime Time (1971–76) “to work against the oppression of women in their prime.” In 1977, she was elected an associate of the Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press.

Marjory Collins died in 1985 at the age of 73. Below are some fascinating photographs by Marjory Collins that depict the life of the U.S. during World War II. She took these photographs for the Farm Security Administration Office of War Information.

#1 A Farm Security Administration housing relief camp for African-Americans.

Interior of an expansible trailer, showing one wing used as a dining and living room, Arlington, Virginia, April 1942

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#2 A woman hanging out washing with her young son in front of the community building in a FSA (Farm Security Administration) housing relief camp for African Americans, Arlington, Virginia, 1942

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#3 Applicants for sugar rationing cards, Adams School, Washington, D.C., May 1942

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#4 At 7 a.m. on June 21st, the day before stricter gas rationing was enforced, cars were pouring into this gas station on upper Wisconsin Ave., Washington, D.C., 1942

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#5 Boy is looking up junk dealers in the telephone directory, wants junk dealer pick up the scrap which he collected stored in his cellar, Washington, D.C., May 1942

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#6 Cashier checking out a customer’s purchases at the Will That Be All?: Giant Food shopping center, Washington, D.C., June 1942

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#7 Customers mounting the ramp to a roof parking space at the Giant Food shopping center on Wisconsin Avenue, Washington, D.C., July 1942

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#8 District grocery store warehouse on 4th Street S.W. Farmers bringing their produce in trucks, between two and five a.m., Washington, D.C., July 1942

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#9 Ellipse Park in Washington, D.C. on a hot Sunday, June 1942

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#10 Government workers lunching and resting in Washington Monument park outside the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., July 1942

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#11 Guest at an evening party at the home of a government artist, Washington, D.C. June-July 1942

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#12 Italian-Americans watching parade on Mott Street and flag raising ceremony in honor of boys from the neighborhood in the United States Army, New York, New York, 1942

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#13 Line of prospective swimmers, awaiting their turn at the municipal swimming pool on Sunday in Washington, D.C., June 1942

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#14 Men waiting for the Third Avenue elevated train in the Fifties at 8-30 a.m., New York, New York, September 1942

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#15 Morning of July 21st, the last day before stricter gas rationing went into effect, cars were parked in front of gas stations, Washington, D.C., 1942

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#16 Morning of July 21st, the last day before stricter gas rationing went into effect, cars were parked in front of gas stations long before they opened, waiting to fill their tanks, Washington D.C., 1942

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#17 Municipal swimming pool in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, June 1942

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#18 Occidental Hotel restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue at noon, Washington, D.C., July 1942

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#19 Players and spectators in a baseball game at Ellipse Park, Washington, D.C., July 1942

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#20 Players in an amateur baseball game between the employees’ recreation association and a team recruited from garage workers, Washington, D.C., June 1942

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#21 Playing tennis in the park in front of the U.S. Department of Commerce building on Sunday afternoon, Washington, D.C., June 1942

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#22 Relaxing on the edge of the municipal swimming pool on Sunday, Washington, D.C., July 1942

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#23 Residents of one of Washington DC’s best residential sections apply for sugar ration cards at Adams School, May 1942

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#24 Servicemen waiting for trains at Pennsylvania railroad station, New York, New York, August 1942

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#25 Serving punch during an evening party at the home of a government artist, Washington, D.C. June, 1942

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#26 Students at Armstrong Technical High School in Washington, D.C. March 1942

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#27 Sunbathers on the grass next to the municipal swimming pool on Sunday, Washington, D.C., July 1942

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#28 Sunday crowds are so great at the municipal swimming pool that long lines form awaiting their turn, Washington, D.C., July 1942

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#29 Sunday cyclist in East Potomac Park, Washington, D.C., June 1942

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#30 Sunday cyclists at Hains Point, Washington, D.C., June 1942

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#31 Sunday cyclists in East Potomac Park, Washington, D.C., June 1942

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#32 Sunday cyclists watching sailboats at Hains Point, Washington, D.C., June 1942

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#33 Sunday swimmers at the municipal swimming pool, Washington, D.C., June 1942

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#34 Truck loaded with scrap metal is weighed on platform scale before being unloaded in wholesale junkyard during the salvage campaign, Victory Program, Washington, D.C., May 1942

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#35 Waders at an automobile Ford in Rock Creek Park. Washington, D.C., June 1942

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#36 Wading in Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C., June 1942

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#37 Waiting for the Third Avenue elevated railway in the Sixties about 8-45 a.m., New York, New York, September 1942

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#38 Waiting for trains at the Pennsylvania railroad station, in New York City, New York, August 1942

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#39 Waiting for trains at the Pennsylvania railroad station, New York City, August 1942

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#40 Waiting for trains at the Pennsylvania railroad station, New York, August 1942

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#41 Well-equipped laundry in the community building at a FSA (Farm Security Administration) housing relief camp for African-Americans, Arlington, Virginia, April 1942

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#42 Young girl with her cat in the kitchen of her home,Arlington, Virginia, April 1942

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#43 A street scene in Baltimore, Maryland, April 1943

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#44 Mexican agricultural laborers who have come to help harvest beets eating their lunch, Stockton, California, May 1943

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#45 Parking lot and billboards in Baltimore, Maryland, April 1943

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#46 Third shift defense workers waiting in a combination delicatessen and restaurant to be picked up by their car pools around midnight, Baltimore, Maryland, April 1943

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#47 Trolley carrying workers to the night shift at the Bethlehem Fairfield shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland, April 1943

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#48 Trucks and trains unloading goods underneath an elevated trolley, Baltimore, Maryland, April 1943

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#49 Workers hurrying to catch a conveyance for work at seven a.m., Baltimore, Maryland, April 1943

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#50 Workers waiting for a bus home at a busy intersection at four in the afternoon, Baltimore, Maryland, April 1943

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