Photograph of a crossroads store, bar, "juke joint," and gas station located in the cotton plantation area of Melrose, Louisiana.
Taken in 1940 by Marion Post Wolcott
Marion Post Wolcott was a FSA documentary photographer who used her vision and photographic skills to showcase and educate the American public on the plight of those most affected by the Great Depression.
Marion bravely traveled alone through New England, Kentucky, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi
in order to show the vast differences between social and economic classes of the haves...
and the have-nots...
She turned her lens towards all that she encountered and exposed the reality of America.
And through her artist and humanitarian commitment, she made a difference by helping to document over a three and a half year period the benefits of federal subsidies, helping to gain support for FDR's New Deal policies and projects, ushering in the promise of hope, a helping hand up and the opportunity for a better way of life.
Marion Post Wolcott
was a true American hero.
I know that we are all weary from the this long political road we have all been traveling lately. But now we are at those proverbial crossroads, and each of us must make a decision as to which way we will go. One way promises hope, and the other way promises to save us from all that we should fear. I choose to chance it and take the path that points towards hope. I do this because I will always choose hope over fear. Because faith is stronger then fear. Because fear is used to control people, whereas hope is used to inspire people. Which way will you go? Each of us must decide which path we choose, and whichever one you decided to take, I wish you well.
"We need to teach the next generation of children
from Day One that they are responsible for their
lives. Mankind's greatest gift, also its greatest
curse, is that we have free choice. We can make
our choices built from love or from fear."
- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross