In
April and May of 1938, John Vachon was in his second full year as a traveling photographer for the Farm Security Administration
(FSA). While on the road in Georgia, he would have celebrated his 24th birthday, perhaps by himself in a small
downtown hotel, his camera and equipment piled in the corner of the room. He kept a journal, and on June 4th of
that year, he wrote:
“I still draw the low salary I drew
a year and a half ago, $105 a month. I have made two photographic trips this spring – one to North Carolina and one
to Georgia. I have some feeling for photographic work, though I think our particular brand a little over-rated. I might be
able to do something with it sometime, that is something worthy, something of value. There, as in everything my life long,
I need a theme.” *
In retrospect, a series of photos he took
that April of the Nat Williamson family, in Guilford County, North Carolina, were far more “worthy” than his doubts
about his work led him to believe. As the captions indicated, the Williamsons were the first African-Americans to receive
a loan from the FSA.
The day I saw the photos on the Library of
Congress website, I found Nat and his family in the 1930 census, living in Washington, North Carolina. He was a 41-year-old
farmer, living with Evannar, his 39-year-old wife of 18 years, and their three sons and three daughters. One of those sons
was 6-month-old Nathan. In the Internet white pages, I quickly found a listing for a Nathan Williamson in North Carolina,
and called. The person who answered said I had the correct Nathan, but that he wasn’t home. She took down my name and
phone number and the reason I called.
About a week later, no one had called back,
so I did some poking around on the Internet, and was shocked to find that Nathan Williamson had passed away only four days
after I had called. So I decided it was prudent to postpone further contact with the family. But two weeks later, I received
the following email:
“Let me introduce myself. My name is Vivian
(Wade) Sexton. I am one of Nat Williamson's granddaughters. When I returned to North Carolina for my late uncle's
funeral, his daughter told me someone had called wanting to speak to her father about our family history.”
Vivian proved to be an engaging and valuable resource. She told me that the family has known about the photos for a few
years. My interview with her is posted on the next page. She sent me a copy of a newspaper article that appeared around
the time that Nat was approved for the FSA loan. The source is unknown, but was probably the Greensboro Daily News. Here is
an excerpt from the article, entitled: “Negro Sharecropper Will Get Federal Loan of $2,980 For Purchasing Farm.”
A Guilford County Negro sharecropper will receive what is believed to be the first land purchase loan to a member of his
race in the nation. It was announced yesterday by Edgar H. Anderson, of Greensboro, county supervisor of the Farm Security
Administration.
The recipient, Nat Williamson, who resides
17 miles east of Greensboro, was notified yesterday that his application for the $2,980 loan had been approved by regional
officials and he may proceed with plans to purchase a 97-acre farm costing $2,350 – with the remaining $650 to devote
to repairs and the construction of new farm buildings.
Williamson
is the second man in this region – which comprises North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia –
to receive a loan under the new Bankhead-Jones farm tenant act. The first recipient also was a Guilford County farmer –
J. E. Jessup, white tenant residing near Liberty.
The
48-year-old Negro has been following approved farming methods, FSA officials were advised, and looks forward to happier days
on land he owns. He has 40 years in which to pay his debt, with interest set a 3 per cent.
According to James Donnell Williamson, Nat’s youngest son, with whom I spoke briefly, the FSA program targeted at
least one loan for a black family, Nat applied for it and, “My Dad came out on top.”
Seven years later, Nat paid off his loan in full.
*John
Vachon quote from John Vachon’s America, edited by Miles Orvell, University of California Press. Used with
permission.
