Untitled [Young girls Iris Fredericks W. Betty & Grace Whitbread posing next to mislettered sign on the outskirts of town]

Pioneering photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White rose to fame when her photograph of the New Deal project, Fort Peck Dam, Montana, was chosen for the cover of the first issue of Life magazine in 1936. It was part of a series of photographs that she took of the New Deal initiatives, exploring their industrial might in relation to the social plights still plaguing rural areas. This untitled photograph of young girls posing next to the New Deal sign is exemplary of her humanizing works. The photograph features the hand-painted sign with the letters N turned the wrong way, betraying the illiteracy of the local craftsman likely commissioned to paint it. The crisp lettering on the white background of the sign contrasts with the softer tones of the young girls, whose skin and clothes appear to be in less than ideal condition. This juxtaposition underscores the hope invested in the promise of “new” that the New Deal brought to desolate areas of the country where it was so sorely needed.