Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Roy Emerson Stryker

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.stryke63
Creators:
Stryker, Roy Emerson, 1893-1975
Doud, Richard Keith
Dates:
1963-1965
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
159 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Roy Emerson Stryker conducted 1963-1965, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art, at the artist's home, in Montrose, Colorado.
Scope and Contents
Stryker speaks of his youth; early career in ranching and social work; the origin of the photography project in the Farm Security Administration; bureaucratic problems; photography and journalism; photographers on the project; subjects' reaction to being photographed; public perception of the FSA project; Paul Vanderbilt's work with the project's photographs; ethics of the photographers and staff; interaction between the photographers and subjects; the influence of earlier documentary photographers, such as Matthew Brady and Lewis Hine; political and media problems with the project; use of the photographs as a force in social change; and other issues surrounding the FSA photography project. He recalls Jack Delano, John Vachon, Edwin Rosskam, Arthur Rothstein, Rexford Tugwell, John Collier, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, Carl Mydans, Ben Shahn, and Marion Post Wolcott.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Roy Emerson Stryker (1893-1975) was the director of the Farm Security Administration Historical Section of Washington, D.C. Under Stryker the Photographic project of the FSA documented the drought, poverty and despair of rural and urban America during the Depression.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 5 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 8 hr.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Collier, John, Jr., 1913-1992 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Delano, Jack Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Evans, Walker, 1903-1975 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lange, Dorothea Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lee, Russell, 1903-1986 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mydans, Carl Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rosskam, Edwin, 1903-1985 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rothstein, Arthur, 1915-1985 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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