Photo by Dorothea Lange, courtesy Library of Congress.
Weedpatch Camp
Concerned about the squalid conditions in the squatters’ camps, the federal government intervened to assist the migrants. The Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal agency, constructed Arvin Federal Camp, near the town of Weedpatch, California, in 1935. With running water for showers, bathrooms, and laundry rooms, and wood platforms designated for tents, the facility was a step up from squatters’ camps