Community Corner

Historical Photo: San Lorenzo Business in 1942

Famed photographer Dorothea Lange took this portrait of a proud shop owner advertising his wares and his heritage.

 

This image was taken on May 9, 1942 and preserved by the National Archives and Records Administration.

The photographer was Dorothea Lange.

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It seems to have been taken for the War Relocation Authority. During the same time period she took critical pictures of the forced internment of Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor.

Those pictures were suppressed at the time and not fully appreciated until decades later.

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The caption of this photo read: San Lorenzo, California. Fruit and vegetable stand on high operated by Philipino (sic). This year he is able to use his nationality in California as an advertisement for trade.


Anyknow know where in San Lorenzo this might have been taken? Care to guess why "this year" the vendor could advertise his nationality?


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