Timeline
The life and career of Dorothea Lange, 1895–1965
Born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn in Hoboken, New Jersey on May 26
Contracts polio at age seven, resulting in permanent limp in right leg
Father abandons family; takes mother's maiden name, Lange
Studies photography under Arnold Genthe in New York City
Studies with Clarence H. White at Columbia University
Moves to San Francisco
Opens portrait studio in San Francisco; marries artist Maynard Dixon
Birth of first son, Daniel
Birth of second son, John
Creates "White Angel Breadline," beginning documentary work
First exhibition of documentary photographs at a local gallery
Hired by Resettlement Administration (later FSA) under Roy Stryker; divorces Maynard Dixon; marries economist Paul Schuster Taylor
Photographs "Migrant Mother" in Nipomo, California in March
Documents migrant workers throughout California and the Southwest
Publishes "An American Exodus: A Record of Human Erosion" with Paul Taylor
Receives Guggenheim Fellowship for photography project
Returns Guggenheim Fellowship to photograph Japanese American internment
Documents Japanese American internment for War Relocation Authority; photographs impounded by U.S. Army
Photographs San Francisco conference founding the United Nations
Co-founds photography magazine Aperture with Ansel Adams, Minor White, and others
Travels to Ireland on assignment for Life magazine
Photographs in Asia for the U.S. State Department
Begins work on MoMA retrospective despite declining health
Dies of esophageal cancer on October 11 in San Francisco
Posthumous retrospective opens at Museum of Modern Art in January
Explore by Decade
1930s
The Great Depression years. FSA photography project begins.
1940s
Japanese internment documentation. War years.
