Jack Whinery and his family, homesteaders, Pie Town, New Mexico (LOC)

Lee, Russell,, 1903-1986,, photographer.

Jack Whinery and his family, homesteaders, Pie Town, New Mexico

1940 Sept.

1 transparency : color.

Notes:
 Title from FSA or OWI agency caption.
Transfer from U.S. Office of War Information, 1944.

Subjects:
 Families
Homesteading
United States--New Mexico--Pie Town

Format: Transparencies--Color

Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.

Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

Part Of: Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Collection 11671-24 (DLC) 93845501

General information about the FSA/OWI Color Photographs is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.fsac

Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsac.1a34169

Call Number: LC-USF35-585

Comments and faves

  1. ★

    Miss Retro Modern, friedpixphoto, Brian Maryansky, WaveBreaker, and 234 other people added this photo to their favorites.

  2. donovanbeeson (65 months ago | reply)

    www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/pi etown.html?c...
    Great article with the history of Pie Town inspired by these photographs.

  3. mr broddy (65 months ago | reply)

    Great documentary photo!

  4. perfgeek (65 months ago | reply)

    Notice how the walls are lined with cardboard.

  5. gregorterri2 (65 months ago | reply)

    I keep coming back to photo's of homesteader Jack Whinery and his family. Yes the dugout interior walls are covered with cardboard - The dugout itself is made of large logs - Not sure what the roof is. I don't know if Jack dug the space-cut the tree's-hauled the rocks for the 'foundation'-not sure what the roof is made of - or see any bathroom (i'm sure was outdoors. Look at the tenacity/hardness of his face. The mother has a hard worn edge - 5 children-keeping the homestead up not to mention I'll bet she was out in the fields with the children doing their part to help. I also got a sense of community from these photo's. They may not have had "the best" but the children look relatively healthy. They went to school-church-worked-played. It feels like a family unit that worked/played together during extremely tough times. They worked hard and brought the family together to enjoy the fruits of their labors. Wonder if any of the children still survive? Did they stay in the area? Did they grow up and get as far away as they could? Was there more going on in that dugout than what we think we see thru the lens of the camera?Would be fascinating to hear their life story.

  6. ejly (64 months ago | reply)

    I saw this first at Shorpy. "The House that Jack built" and at that site there is much more information about the family. What a great family shot - poor or not, the family looks healthy and that was an achievement back then.

  7. abej2004 (63 months ago | reply)

    Poor things, my we have come a long way!

  8. The World's Gaze (58 months ago | reply)

    Greetings!
    Using the "blog this" function above your picture, we have linked your picture to our not-for-profit blog [THE WORLD'S GAZE] in which we are showcasing some of the GEMS found in Flickr.
    Should you object, we will remove the link immediately.
    In anticipation, please receive our best wishes.
    Cordially yours,

    The World's Gaze

  9. Graceful Wings (formerly *Miss~Mikaela*) (49 months ago | reply)

    Yes! I was just in Pie Town today, and was able to find the names of the children and put the names to the faces! Whoohooo! It's in my journal somewhere, when I find it I'll be sure to post it!

  10. pomegranate ranch [deleted] (49 months ago | reply)

    Hi, I'm an admin for a group called dissecting the family album, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

  11. Graceful Wings (formerly *Miss~Mikaela*) (49 months ago | reply)

    The Whinery Children-

    The boys: Oldest boy is A.J. Whinery, baby boy is Lawrence Whinery.
    The girls: Oldest girl is Laura Whinery, Wanda Whinery is in white, and Velva Whinery is in pink.

    Velva's middle name is Mae, and her obituary is here. It says she was born in Adrin, TX, Lawrence and Wanda passed away before Velva, and as far as I know Laura and A.J are still alive. At the time of Velva's passing, Laura lived in Clifton, CO with the married name Murray, and Jack lived in Clifton. It doesn't say which of the many Cliftons it is, so I am guessing it is Clifton, TX. A married name was not listed for Wanda, so I assume she never married.

    While I found the obit. on the internet, I found the names of the other children while in Pie Town the other day. It was a photographer's dream!

  12. wiggiewormdog (48 months ago | reply)

    Hi, I'm an admin for a group called piece of heaven, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

  13. wiggiewormdog (48 months ago | reply)

    Hi, I'm an admin for a group called summer freedom, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

  14. quietempest (44 months ago | reply)

    This is my family. Laura and AJ are still alive, and it is Clifton, CO not TX. I am Jack's great grand-daughter, grand-daughter of Velva. Wanda never married.

  15. welborn (40 months ago | reply)

    @quiettempest -- that's so cool! Had you seen these pictures before?

  16. hyakoukoune (39 months ago | reply)

    great familly portrait

  17. quietempest (38 months ago | reply)

    @welborn- I found out about these pictures about 10yrs ago. I wish I knew how to get copies from the Library of Congress. My husband and I are planning a trip to Pie Town in the next year. I would really like to see it in person.

  18. Ryan (LOC P&P) (38 months ago | reply)

    quietempest: to get copies of these images, please visit our website, www.loc.gov/pictures/ and go to the collection, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information color photographs. From there you can search all of the images of Pie Town. Information about obtaining copies is linked to the record for the photograph.

  19. Brett Goodrich (36 months ago | reply)

    LOL @ Napoleona Dynamite!

  20. vendamontgomery (30 months ago | reply)

    The mother's name is Edith Evans Whinery. There were 2 more younger children. A girl, Jean and boy Floyd. A wonderful family and will always be close to my heart.

  21. CStGeorge (24 months ago | reply)

    www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1388179/Rare -Library-Con...

    a different angle.

  22. rob1201 (16 months ago | reply)

    looking for canadians that want to homestead a farm in canada thats for sale for 125 thousand 100 acers rob illman facebook

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