September 1940. "Abandoned gold mill east of Silverton, San Juan County, Colorado." Medium format negative by Russell Lee. View full size.

July 1940. "Filling station is only building of modern design in the Spanish-American village of Penasco, New Mexico." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

September 1940. "Main street in Montrose, Colorado." Special guest appearance by Reddy Kilowatt. Medium format negative by Russell Lee. View full size.

September 1940. "Station of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad at Ouray, Colorado. This narrow-gauge line formerly had passenger service but now is confined to freight service." Acetate negative by Russell Lee. View full size.

September 1940. "Derelict lighting plant in Silverton, Colorado." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

September 1940. "Theater in Ouray, Colorado." Now playing: "Primrose Path" with Ginger Rogers and Joel McCrea. Photo by Russell Lee. View full size.

November 1940. "Children in yard of old Mormon house at Tropic, Utah." Photo by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

November 1940. "Pool hall and game parlor in Central Valley, California. This is one of the boom towns near Shasta Dam." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

November 1940. "U.S. Mail truck used in snowy mountain sections of Nevada County, California." Acetate negative by Russell Lee. View full size.

November 1940. Tulare County, California. "One of the homes at Mineral King cooperative farm, an old ranch of 500 acres raising cotton, alfalfa, and dairy products for cash crops. Ten families [including the Schmidts] have been established here by the Farm Security Administration in modern houses." Forerunner of the suburban ranch house that characterized so much postwar residential development. Medium format negative by Russell Lee. View full size.

November 1940. Tulare County, California. "Corner of kitchen in Schmidt house at Mineral King cooperative farm. They are equipped with electric refrigerators." Photo by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

November 1940. "Son of Mr. Schmidt, member of Mineral King cooperative farm, doing his homework. Tulare County, California." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

November 1940. "Main store in Tropic, Utah." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

October 1940. "Gas station and store in Concho, Arizona. Inhabitants of this town are all of Spanish extraction." Acetate negative by Russell Lee. View full size.

        By May 1941, defense jobs had 1,500 people moving into San Diego every day -- seven months before Pearl Harbor.

December 1940. "Carpenter's wife unpacking a trunk at tent camp for defense workers in Mission Valley, California, which is about three miles from San Diego." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee documenting life in Southern California during the "Blitz Boom" of 1940. View full size.