“I wish she [Lange] hadn’t taken my picture. I can’t get a penny out of it. She didn’t ask my name. She said she wouldn’t sell the pictures. She said she’d send me a copy. She never did.”

While Thompson initially viewed the photo as a curse that froze her in her lowest moment of poverty, her children felt differently. They grew to be immensely proud of their mother, viewing the image as a monumental tribute to her resilience and the strength of a mother who sacrificed everything to keep her children alive.

In August 1983, Thompson suffered a stroke and was diagnosed with cancer, leaving her family with staggering medical bills they could not afford. Her children leveraged her late-in-life fame and issued a public appeal.

Recognizing the woman who had humanized the Great Depression for generations, the American public sent in over $110,000 in donations to cover her medical care. Thompson passed away a month later in September 1983 at the age of 80.

Damn

In August 1983, Thompson suffered a stroke and was diagnosed with cancer, leaving her family with staggering medical bills they could not afford. Her children leveraged her late-in-life fame and issued a public appeal.

Recognizing the woman who had humanized the Great Depression for generations, the American public sent in over $110,000 in donations to cover her medical care. Thompson passed away a month later in September 1983 at the age of 80.

Welp. That’s definitely America for you right there.

Also, standard “wrong community” comment - this is fascinating, thank you OP!

What an incredible story. Photography vs. Reality. The photographer must detach themselves from reality to be able to record it in photography.