--- title: Arthur Rothstein: A Master's Photographs Come Home to Columbia description: Recalling the work of Arthur Rothstein, one of the most prolific and influential photographers of the 20th century. canonical: https://time.com/3881331/arthur-rothstein-photographs-return-to-columbia/ author: Krystal Grow article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-22T19:49:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:35.184Z og:title: Arthur Rothstein: A Master's Photographs Come Home to Columbia og:description: Recalling the work of Arthur Rothstein, one of the most prolific and influential photographers of the 20th century. og:url: https://time.com/3881331/arthur-rothstein-photographs-return-to-columbia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f5f6e897076c7a6/69884cbce53aba18e34dd525/141022-arthur-rothstein-011.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Migrant Field Worker, Tulare Migrant Camp, CA. 1940 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Arthur Rothstein: A Master's Photographs Come Home to Columbia twitter:description: Recalling the work of Arthur Rothstein, one of the most prolific and influential photographers of the 20th century. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f5f6e897076c7a6/69884cbce53aba18e34dd525/141022-arthur-rothstein-011.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Arthur Rothstein's Return: A Master's Photographs Come Home to Columbia by [Krystal Grow](https://time.com/author/krystal-grow/) ## Krystal Grow Oct 22, 2014 7:49 PM UTC  Migrant field worker, Tulare Migrant Camp, Calif., 1940. Migrant field worker, Tulare Migrant Camp, Calif., 1940.Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. by [Krystal Grow](https://time.com/author/krystal-grow/) ## Krystal Grow Oct 22, 2014 7:49 PM UTC The Great Depression was one of the most dismal periods in American history—and, paradoxically, one of the most photogenic. Hired by the U.S. government under FDR’s visionary Farm Security Administration, documentary heavyweights like Gordon Parks, Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange made photographs during the Depression that have come to exemplify the era. But in a sense, the FSA’s operation really took root at Columbia University in New York, where Roy Stryker, a Columbia professor tapped by the Roosevelt administration to lead the fledgling photo project, recruited Arthur Rothstein, the first official photographer of the FSA. Rothstein, born in 1915 and raised in the Bronx, was a largely unsung hero of the now-legendary government-run documentary collective, first conceived as part of Roosevelt’s series of New Deal initiatives meant to help bolster a devastated economy. A promising Columbia student who majored in chemistry and founded the university’s first camera club, he was recruited by Stryker and professor Guy Tigwell to set up what would become the official FSA darkrooms and photo studios. He was also enlisted to purchase equipment that future photographers on assignment for the government’s first photo agency would use to document a country in crisis. After setting up shop in Washington, D.C., Rothstein, then just 20 years old, went out on assignment, shooting stacks of pictures for Stryker and the FSA, many of which have now made their way back to Columbia. Thousands of Rothstein’s original prints, donated by the Rothstein family and spanning his entire career, are part of the permanent collection of the [Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library](http://library.columbia.edu/locations/avery.html). It took two years for the collection to be fully processed and cataloged. “It was important to the family to maintain the Columbia connection,” said Carole Ann Fabian, Director of the Avery Library. “They had a long history with the school, and with the city, and really wanted to see the work here for people to research and for students to discover.” Rothstein’s work for the FSA took him across the country, and he would go on to document much of Europe, India, Myanmar (then called Burma) and China for the United States Signal Corps. As the chief photographer for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, he captured powerful images of the [Great Chinese Famine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great%5FChinese%5FFamine) of the late 1950s and early 1960s. A gifted editor and graphic designer, Rothstein also served as the Director of Photography for _LOOK_ and _Parade_ magazines, though according to Fabian he always referred to himself as the “technical director” for publications he worked with. An engineer at heart, Rothstein was also the principle inventor of a machine called the X-o-Graph, a device that could reproduce images and make them appear three-dimensional. While the collection at Columbia includes a vast survey of Rothstein’s own work, it also includes notes, letters, paperwork and photographs from his personal collection. A quick scan of Columbia’s newly compiled and exhaustively cataloged [research guide](http://findingaids.cul.columbia.edu/ead/nnc-a/ldpd%5F9419838/summary#summary) shows prints by FSA colleagues Evans and Lange, as well as seminal figures like Lewis Hine, Julia Margaret Cameron and Matthew Brady. “The Arthur Rothstein Photograph Collection is stunning in its power, scope, technical prowess and beauty,” Fabian told LIFE.com. “We are thrilled to receive this important body of materials and we look forward to intensive study of this archive by the research community.” The acquisition will be officially announced at Columbia University on Oct. 28th, and will include an exhibition and speeches by Columbia faculty and staff. The event is open to the public, but RSVPs should be sent to _Avery-Friends@libraries.cul.columbia.edu_, as space may be limited. --- **_Krystal Grow_** _is a contributor to LIFE.com and TIME LightBox. Follow her on_ [_Twitter_](https://twitter.com/kgreyscale)_and_ [_Instagram_](http://instagram.com/kgreyscale) _@kgreyscale_ **_The Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University_** _is one of the most comprehensive collections relating to architecture and the fine arts in the world. Avery collects a full range of primary and secondary sources for the advanced study of architecture, historic preservation, art history, decorative arts, city planning, real estate, and archaeology._ ---  Migrant field worker, Tulare Migrant Camp, Calif., 1940. Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.  Children in nursery, Tulare Migrant Camp, Calif., 1940. Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.  Railroad worker, Birmingham, Ala., 1937. Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.  Girl at Gees Bend, or Artelia Bendolph. Gees Bend, 1937. Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.  Children of family living on grazing land, Idaho, 1936. Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.  Farmer with pitchfork, Grundy County, Iowa (undated). Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.  Hired man's home, Jasper County, Iowa. Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.  Evicted sharecropper boy, New Madrid County, Missouri. Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.  Pete Seeger surrounded by fans (undated). Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.  Silos at the Bois d'Arc cooperative farm store feed for 102 dairy cows, Osage Farms, MO. Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.  George Washington Carver, Tuskegee Institute, Ala.. 1942. Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.  Columbia University Camera Club, George Washington Bridge, 1933. Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3881331/arthur-rothstein-photographs-return-to-columbia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3881331/arthur-rothstein-photographs-return-to-columbia/"},"headline":"Arthur Rothstein's Return: A Master's Photographs Come Home to Columbia","datePublished":"2014-10-22T19:49:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:35.184Z","description":"LIFE.com explores the work of the prolific 20th-century photographer Arthur Rothstein, whose work is now included in the permanent collections of the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library in New York City.","url":"https://time.com/3881331/arthur-rothstein-photographs-return-to-columbia/","keywords":["Culture","New York City","Columbia University","Archives"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f5f6e897076c7a6/69884cbce53aba18e34dd525/141022-arthur-rothstein-011.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Krystal Grow","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/krystal-grow/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f5f6e897076c7a6/69884cbce53aba18e34dd525/141022-arthur-rothstein-011.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Migrant Field Worker, Tulare Migrant Camp, CA. 1940","caption":"Migrant Field Worker, Tulare Migrant Camp, CA. 1940","creditText":"Arthur Rothstein photograph collection, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/culture/","name":"Culture"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3881331/arthur-rothstein-photographs-return-to-columbia/","name":"Arthur Rothstein's Return: A Master's Photographs Come Home to Columbia"}}]}] ```