Margaret Bourke-White
(American, 1904–1971)
At the time of the Louisville Flood, Louisville Kentucky
Object Details
Artist
Margaret Bourke-White
Date
1937 (negative); printed later
Medium
Gelatin silver print, mounted on panel
Dimensions
Sheet: 14 15/16 × 20 inches (38 × 50.8 cm)
Panel: 16 7/8 × 21 7/8 inches (42.9 × 55.6 cm)
Mat: 22 × 28 inches (55.9 × 71.1 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the artist, Class of 1927, and LIFE Magazine
Object
Number
65.688
This photograph led off the February 15, 1937, feature story for LIFE Magazine documenting the devas(…)
This photograph led off the February 15, 1937, feature story for LIFE Magazine documenting the devastation of Louisville, Kentucky, by Ohio River flooding. Bourke-White was sent on assignment with only a few hours notice and arrived on the last plane to land in Louisville. Her best-known image from the shoot—one used in many different contexts—captures African American men, women, and children lined up at a relief center in front of a billboard of a smiling white family with the headline: “World’s Highest Standard of Living—There’s no way like the American way.” (“Margaret Bourke-White: From Cornell Student to Visionary Photojournalist,” curated by Stephanie Wiles and presented at the Johnson Museum January 24 – June 7, 2015)
