Roy E. Stryker headed the Historical Division of the Farm Security Administration from 1935 to 1943. This program tells the story of how Stryker, a low-level federal bureaucrat with integrity and vision, managed a massive New Deal project to document the Great Depression. These photos—nearly 200,000 by both established and aspiring photographers, including Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, Arthur Rothstein, and many others—became the defining statement of the era. Many signature images of poverty and hardship are included. Narrated by Beverly Brannan, curator of photography at the Library of Congress; Alan Fern, retired director of the National Portrait Gallery; and Peter Kuznick, professor of history at American University. (23 minutes)