Marion Post Wolcott was a prominent American photographer who worked for the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression, documenting poverty and deprivation. When she was young, her parents separated when she was born in New Jersey. Marion Went to boarding school. She was surrounded by her mother’s friends: artists, writers, filmmakers, and photographers. Marion’s mother’s friends encouraged her to live and discover who she was.
As she traveled the country’s East Coast, she was acutely aware of the financial ruin that followed the Wall Street crash, affecting so many Americans. Her sister Helen invited her to stay with her in Vienna. They studied photography together under the tutelage of Austrian photographer Trude Fleischmann (1895-1990). During her time in Vienna, Marion witnessed the brutal rise of the National Socialists. Marion and her sister returned to the United States. Marion’s experiences in Vienna led her to join the Anti-Fascist group.
During the Great Depression, the Farm Security Administration hired Marion Post to document the lives of working-class people in America. She photographed the lives of Americans whose work was often back-breaking, thankless, and unknown to most US citizens. Post met Leon Oliver Wolcott, then Deputy Director of War Relations for the US Department of Agriculture, in 1941. They married and started a family. While raising a family, Post found it challenging to continue her photographic career. She gave up focusing on becoming Mrs. Post Wolcott.
