Pause to remember an image of the Great Depression. Was this image happy or sad? Perhaps it was a scene of a family enjoying the radio, children reading comics, a group of young people playing baseball, a movie theater, or even children playing Monopoly; however most people would imagine a migrant mother with her children, an adult holding a sign asking for a job, a family living in a shack with almost no food, or dirty, hungry children. “For those born after the 1930s, the Great Depression is something that can only be visualized through photography and film (This great nation will endure)” and to the question “What image do you think of when you hear the words Great Depression Era? " " all thirty high school students recalled a negative image. Today's mass media selection of harsh and extreme images from the 1930s Great Depression era fails to portray the positive aspects of American life during that period of time Many of the photographs featured in today's media and some of the most popular photographs of life during the Great Depression were produced by the FSA or the Farm Security Administration. Founded by President Roosevelt, the government agency's purpose was to provide loans to benefit of tenant farmers and sharecroppers (p. 772). The FSA launched a photography project whose mission was to show city residents (Ganzel) the hardships of families living on farms Over eighty thousand photographs were taken between 1935 and 1943; most portrayed American life in a negative way (This Great Nation Will Endure). Two of the most famous photographs taken by the agency, also used in several American history textbooks, are icons of the Depression era. Both symbolize… half of paper… products, radio shows and movies were produced, and many Americans enjoyed life in the 1930s. These positive aspects of life and the positive photographs of the historical period are not well known to the American public today, and many people imagine the Great Depression only in a negative way. “For those born after the 1930s, the Great Depression is something that can only be visualized through photography and film. Some images have come to define our view of that uncertain time: an anxious migrant mother with her three young children; a farmer and his children dealing with a dust storm; a family of sharecroppers gathered in front of their Spartan home” (This great nation will endure). Today's mass media focuses on the harsh and extreme images of the Great Depression and fails to portray the happy and positive aspects of American life during the years ’30..